Divided
by EnigmaMemory
Summary: One group fights for light and justice. The other fights for that differently. They fight hidden, in the shadows, pretending to be the enemy. But these groups cannot, and will not, stay separated for long... Somewhat AU. OCs present.
1. Chapter 1

**IQman2000 here... This fic is somewhat AU (The characters fight using weapons generated from their crests, the storyline's out of whack, etc, etc.) Please enjoy my first fic (yeah, I don't know what the hell I'm doing.) Reviews would be helpful.**

_**Italics **_**detonate a thought or flashback.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. If I did, they would have made TK and Kari a canonic couple.**

Chapter 1

To any ordinary bystander, a large forest in the middle of a secluded part of the States would be perfectly normal. After all, things like that existed everywhere else in the world. However, most ordinary bystanders didn't take the time to explore the unknown forest.

If they did, they might come across a large mansion, interestingly placed in the said unknown forest far from any civilization. Of course, anybody who did find probably wouldn't be leaving to tell the tale, and anyone who did would only be considered insane.

That was because if anybody came back to check, it wouldn't be there anymore.

It was a shame (and an awfully clichéd one at that) that such a heavily hidden place also housed one of the foulest beings to exist.

The said being was currently berating another person as he kneeled on the floor. Funnily enough, this was one of those few humans who came to his mansion frequently and lived to tell the tale. _Not that he would if he knew what's good for him._ The being, regarding the matter, thought. He raised his hand and formed a ball of pure black energy, threatening to fire it. The human flinched- he knew what was coming.

"So you're telling me that you failed to go after the Digi-destined, even though your group was completely obliterating them? Even when it was your primary objective?" the being thundered.

"With all due respect, sir, we weren't exactly 'obliterating' them. A few members on my team were actually pretty seriously hurt, and it's meaningless to go after them if it just becomes a two-on-five slugfest against us…."

**"****SILENCE!"**

The human jumped back as if stung. It was a good thing, because the being threw the ball of energy directly at where he was kneeling just half a second ago.

"**It does not matter how hurt your 'team members' are! Your orders are to hunt down those pesky kids and cleanse the face of the world of them! Don't tell me you thought you were too weak to go after them just because they had an advantage in their NUMBERS! Or were you just scared?"**

With that statement, there was some audible snickering heard from the shadows in the room. The human flicked an irritated glance at the shadows, before turning back to his master.

"Please, my lord. Was bringing everyone along to laugh at this spectacle really necessary? I _did_ think it was a tactically correct move. At least the way in which we managed to protect the Dark Spires when another group attempted to topple it down was tactically correct. I think the attack was planned only to distract us."

The being returned to sitting upon his throne of pure obsidian. "You should be glad that happened so quickly. I would otherwise be dealing out some… _punishments _to you and your team."

"I understand."

"Aww," the shadows sighed.

"Puppetmon, Etemon, shut up," the human replied calmly.

"Why should we?"

"If you haven't seen the lord's expression by now, you should take a look instead of bickering with me." With that, the human took his leave.

The two digimon turned to look at their master. By then, the nervous expressions on their faces were perfectly understandable; the being was positively steaming from the ears.

###

"So, how did it go?"

The human closed the large oak door that was at the entrance of the mansion and turned to meet his comrades. "Well, I'm alive. That should tell you a lot."

The blonde boy with the ragged, gangly clothes who spoke before decided to speak again. "Jake, you have to watch where you're stepping. A lot of us seriously thought you were going to be blown to bits for this one." A couple of heads nodded, confirming the blonde's statement.

"I know, Matt. We just have to keep this up only a little longer." Jake said as his group walked away from.

"That's what you said a couple of weeks back!" a girl fumed. She flicked her head back to fling her stringy brown hair behind her shoulders before continuing her rant. "How long is 'a little longer' going to be?"

"Quiet, Lily," Jake cautioned. "We don't know who might be listening in."

Lily folded her arms. It was obvious to everyone else that she intended to continue this argument once they got somewhere safer. The others stirred nervously.

"Alright, Jake or Lily. Who do you think will win?" Another girl said. She raked her short black hair before continuing, "Well, I say the odds are pretty even, so we'll just bet money the way it is!"

Matt smacked her then.

"Stop it, Athena. You're scaring TK and Ken."

"Alright, alright," Athena grumbled. "Personally, I thought it was a good match up. I mean, our leader and his right hand…what should I say?"

"Personally, I think that saying women would be sexist, so let's go with person," Ken murmured.

"Alright, person it is. I say I listen to Ken Ichijouji, boy genius, if I know what's good for me," Athena rattled.

"Please, Athena, don't call me that."

"What? Does it remind you of the old days, Ken?" Athena grinned.

Ken's shoulders slumped.

Seeing that, Athena's smile vanished.

"…you shouldn't have said that," TK finally said.

The resemblance TK bore to Matt was striking. They had the same spiky blonde hair, the same posture, and most notably, the same devilishly handsome face. If it wasn't for Matt's relatively ragged clothes, most people would realize that they were brothers.

It was unfortunate for Athena that TK and Matt shared a fierce devotion to their friends. It pretty much guaranteed a lecture from the duo.

"You know that Ken is…sensitive about his past," TK admonished.

"I know. It sucks that Ken still wants to punish himself for what he's done during his time acting as 'Digimon Emperor.'"

"Yeah." Strangely, TK did not continue from there.

Athena wondered what was wrong with the whole group.

"Why is everyone so gloomy?"

"Not everyone is blessed with the Crest of Happiness, A," Matt said softly, attempting not to disturb Jake and Lily, who were still not saying a word to each other as they walked up ahead.

"Hm… Well, I guess I'll just have to distract everyone from these gloomy thoughts…. Hey, you haven't answered my question yet!"

"Which one?" Ken asked.

"The one about Jake versus Lily, of course! Let's see… Jake always kicked my ass when we sparred, but Lily was a pretty tough nut, too, so…" Athena rattled off. Sighing, Matt dropped back to where TK and Ken were walking side by side.

"Well, what _do_ you think?"

"Well, Matt," Ken started, "Personally, I think Jake never showed as the full extent of his strength to us. Then again, nor have you and Lily. So I have no idea, but according to their spars with Athena, Lily has more trouble than Jake. So I say Jake."

"Really? I actually thought Lily would win, but that's only because Jake wouldn't really put up too much of a fight. He's not that type."

"That's only if they fight at all," TK stated. "I doubt they'll actually fight with everything they have against each other. They're really good friends with each other. They just don't know it."

"Hey, TK, don't go around playing matchmaker. That's my job!" Matt joked.

"Alright, you do that. I'll just go back to thinking."

"About what?"

"When we're going to reveal our hand," TK and Ken both stated.

"We have to be careful. If we aren't, our "Lord" will just blow us to smithereens," Ken replied.

"But I don't know how long we can keep this up. We're fighting against fellow digidestined and we know it. The guilt is going to eat us up sooner or later. At the very least, I know it would eat me up. I'm not sure about Athena. I don't think she really minds, as long as she has someone to compete with. I heard her begging Jake if she could take on Tai next time we fight," TK said thoughtfully.

"That's only because I dared her to. She's not dumb. She knows she doesn't stand a chance."

Matt sighed and kneeled down ever so slightly. His brother was starting to catch up with him in height, and he had to bend less and less to see him eye-to-eye. But difficulties nonetheless, he did so to look into his brother's eyes.

"TK, don't worry about it. Someday, Jake will finally go join the other digidestined in a fight against our 'Master'." Matt said, and his voice soured with disdain on the last word. "It might take a while before they get strong enough for us to consider it, but Jake's been stating that they've been getting stronger. The same way you've been getting stronger, and the way Ken and Athena have, too." He poked TK in the chest for emphasis.

"Maybe they won't accept us when it's time. Maybe they will. Don't worry about it, though. Jake, Lily, and I will take care of it." Matt stated. "Besides, I know it's going to happen, no matter how long it takes. It's destiny. It's meant to be, the same way those birthmarks we have are meant to be."

TK stared at the back of his hand at that point.

More accurately, he was staring at the faint outline on the back of it, the outline that made a picture of a tower like base with a circle surrounded by triangular rays on top of it.

His eyes were fixated upon it, even as the group walked on, even when Jake called up the portal to get them out of there.

_This is the thing that makes us known to one another._ He thought. _Yet it's also the reason we're caught in this mess. Why must life be so cruel?_

Shaking his head, TK finally stopped looking at his hand and walked into the blue portal alongside Matt and Ken. The portal closed upon them, but not before a tear fell onto the hard packed soil.

_Why…why must we pretend to be enemies when we want to be friends?_

###

**Reviews would be welcome. This is my first fic, after all, and any criticism might help. Plus, they keep me motivated. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**I should probably take this time to explain a little more about the storyline. It's going to be slightly AU, because I decided to change a bunch of crap about the characters and the plot. But I'm going to attempt to incorporate as much of the original events that happened in Digimon Adventure 1 & 2 as I can.**

**This story is going to go pretty slowly, so I advise you to just bear with me.**

**Special thanks to Simon (Now You See Me), for being the only person to review before I posted this chapter. No, I don't intend to let this die, Simon. :)**

_Italics _**detonate a thought or flashback. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.**

Chapter 2

Hikari Yagami flopped onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling and sighed. She wanted nothing better to do than to just lie there and just stare at the surface. Anybody who looked into her eyes would be able to see the unfocused gaze of her pupils. Considering the fact that she was replaying the last few moments in her head, that was perfectly understandable.

Hikari, being a digidestined, had a pretty tough week already, and it didn't look like it was going to get any better. Though Gennai, the old sage that resided in the Digital World, has pronounced them the saviors of his world, Hikari did not feel like a savior, primarily because she and her friends were pretty poor 'saviors.' Every time they came to the Digital World for help, the forces of Evil pushed them back a bit further.

_It makes no sense,_ she thought. _If we're saviors, why can we only handle the weakest of opponents? There's no way we can stand against powerful ones like Devimon and Etemon, at least for now._ She felt glad that it was only those two who were harassing their group all over. She heard from Taichi, her brother, and Izzy, the group's tactician, that even stronger enemies were elsewhere, cleaning up powerful rebels.

She sighed again. _Plus, how are we going to do things like save a world if we still have to do homework?_ She got out of her bed by then and staggered over to her desk. She sat down, turned on the desk lamp, and dragged her backpack over.

Hikari had never liked homework to begin with. Although she was at the top of her eighth grade class, that didn't mean she liked doing such benign tasks like homework. Now that she had an added responsibility in the form of being a digidestined, she absolutely despised it. She knew if she had to choose between saving a world and getting a 100 on the test, she would choose saving world without blinking.

_So why am I still doing this crap?_

"Because we have to pretend that nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened to us. We don't want to be sent to a mental asylum, or even worse, make our parents worry," Taichi's head popped out of her door.

"Did I really say that out loud?"

"Yeah, you did, Kari." Many people who knew Hikari well just called her Kari.

"Sorry, Tai. It's just that… a lot of things happened recently, and some of them are still bugging me…"

Tai sighed as he entered his sister's room. "Yeah, they've been on my mind too. Especially those people who dressed up like Power Rangers. They had pretty goofy outfits, but they were strong." Tai sat himself down on his sister's bed.

Kari nodded. "But not like Devimon or something. Some of us can keep up with the weakest of them one on one."

"No, that's not the case," Tai disagreed. "Even the weakest of them hide their true strength. I think that person could keep up with Sora or Joe. The strongest of them… I think might be even stronger than Devimon or Etemon themselves."

"_What?_" Kari couldn't wrap her mind around that. _But even our whole group couldn't take down Devimon…are they really that strong?_

"You should have seen it when Sora, Joe, Izzy, and I all took on the head honcho. The fight lasted about 15 seconds. That's how long it took for him to knock all of us away and lose enough energy for our weapons to disappear. He wasn't even _fazed_."

"But it's not their strength that really makes me think," Kari noted. "It's more of…"

"Their mercy?"

"Yes, that's it. Devimon and Etemon would always attempt to go for the kill. But these people… they seemed okay with letting us go, especially if one of their own members was injured. I got a pretty good scratch onto the light green one torso last time. When we ran, I looked back and saw the black one rush over and put his hands on the light green one's wound. And somehow, the wound was healed."

"Yeah, that also made me think. The other enemies never really cared how they treated their comrades. But the other thing that disturbed me was that compared to the other territories, their territory seemed…almost _peaceful_. It's like they were protectors… but they work with the likes of evil."

"…"

"…"

Brother and sister just sat there, mulling the events over.

Finally, Kari turned back to her work.

"Well, we'll think about this tomorrow. I really intend to finish this first… Stupid summer work. We're not even in school anymore. Why must we hand this in for high school?" Kari groaned.

"Truthfully, I have no idea, but good luck." Tai went for the door, but before leaving, he tired to look at his sister. "Don't worry, Kari. We'll figure all this out in the end."

"Yeah…"

###

Hikari slammed down her pencil. "Yes! I'm done!"

She leaned back on her chair and looked at the clock.

"Hm, it's only 8:27… Still a while before the first day at high school tomorrow." She giggled. _I bet Yolei will still buzz around, looking for gossip and boys. That was what she was doing last year as a freshman. Davis will still chase me around, asking for a date, even though I rejected him a couple thousand times by now. Cody might finally come around to breaking out of his shell and show everyone he's a prodigy…__And __I get to see Tai and everyone else in the gang! Oh, this is going to be so fun!_

Hikari spun around her room, giggling, and finally tripped and fell on her bed, where she continued to laugh almost uncontrollably. The people she was referring to were all part of the digidestined group that was chosen to protect the Digiworld, albeit with mixed success.

"Well, since I still have time, I guess I'll just write in my diary." Kari sauntered back to her desk. She sat down and rummaged through her drawer, finally pulling out a ragged book. She flipped to a new page, picked up a pen, and began writing.

_Dear Diary,_

_The last few days haven't gone by so well. We lost Drill Tunnel and Freezeland to the enemy. It sucks that even more innocent Digimon are now subject to their control._

_We tried to attack one of the Control Spires in Mihirashi Mountain. However, the guardians of that place (the goofy looking Power Rangers! :D) didn't go after our decoy and stayed where they were, so they were able to stop us from toppling it. We were so close, too!_

_Sometimes, though, I wonder why we even bother with dealing with these 'Power Rangers.' It seems to me that they aren't really doing anything to harm the inhabiting Digimon. I was actually able to see some Digimon in various places. They looked tired, but not like they were tortured or anything like that. In fact, a stray Meramon said that those "Power Rangers" never harmed anyone here unless if they were ordered to, and even then they tried to strike up volunteers that were willing to take the pain before they did anything._

_These Power Rangers…they seem more humane than any other enemy we fought, excluding the ones controlled by Black Gears and such. They take care of their region, they care for each other, they don't attempt to kill us (which is strange, but hey, at least we're alive.) It's almost like they're trying to … train us. I swear, once I tried to swipe the one dressed in light green with my Lightning Paw, but he just leaned back and my swipe just flew right passed him. And then, he actually spoke! He said, "Your attack is fast, but it'll be more effective if you time it so that you attack when your opponent is unbalanced or distracted." I didn't want to listen, but I tried it anyways, and it worked! I actually managed to land a hit on him (at least, it sounded like a him.) That was before Tai told us to retreat as an attempt for them to follow us._

_Anyway, I'm finally going to enter high school tomorrow! I'm so excited! I mean, I can finally see Yolei when we're not going around fighting random evil. That's going to be sweet! Now, only if Davis would stop asking me out…_

###

Takeru Takaishi, better known as TK, stooped over his deck, writing a log in his own book. He refused to call it a diary, because it sounded far too girly. Naturally, that meant everyone called it a diary just to infuriate him, but he grew used to it.

The fact that he was still fighting people that seemed to be his kin still bothered him. It just didn't seem…right. He was almost tempted to say something when he was fighting that brown-haired girl. He felt a little guilty for every single time he knocked her down, or into a tree, for that matter. In the end, he did say something, just not what he wanted to say.

_Dammit, I wanted to say we weren't your enemies, and instead I go around sprouting advice about fighting. It's not even like I'm that good. Sure, I was holding back a bit against her, but that doesn't stop everyone except Athena from wiping the floor with me. And Athena… she usually wins as well, but only after a tough fight. I always make sure it's tough, otherwise she'll never forgive me._

TK sighed, lifted his pen and started writing.

_September 7th, 2009_

_Life sucks. What kind of twisted fate is it to fight your own brethren just so everyone single person could live? It doesn't make any freaking sense. I almost revealed the whole game because of this. Bless battle strategy. Although it's sad that I still have to hide all this._

_Tomorrow, I'm going to high school. Yeah, someone from the infamous Berserker Brigade, special unit of the 'Lord' himself still has to go to school. Ha. I probably already know more than they can ever teach me. It's lucky that I have people like Jake, Lily, and Ken as friends. Speaking of which, I won't see them in high school. Mom decided to enroll me into one that was closer, instead of the one that my friends are going to, which is another perk of being a child of divorced parents._

_I hate it._

_I guess that's why I took up the Lord's offer when he decided to recruit my brother and I. After all, he did say he would help bring my parents back together. I should've known nothing good would come out of it. I had to drag my brother into this too. He said only joined because the Lord said he would torture me if he didn't._

_Yeah, life sucks. I guess I'll continue being a prick in high school. I hate it, but I prefer it this way then having people's pity. Teenagers and their popularity. Ugh, it makes me sick._

TK closed his book and put it back into his drawer. He then went to lie on his bed. He vaguely thought about the other members of his team and what they'll do tomorrow. Athena, like him, was going to start her first year in high school. Jake and Lily, the poor souls, had to take the hyperactive female to school, because Athena had no idea where the heck that school was.

_It's strange that they're even related._ Sure, they weren't sisters or anything of the sort; they were only cousins, but they were so close that they were mistaken as sisters a lot of times, anyways.

It was too bad Athena didn't have any of Lily's traits, like being street smart or knowing when to shut her mouth.

_"Look, if you end up in the principal's office after a pointless fight, I'll let you know now that Lily and I will have absolutely no sympathy," Jake told Athena sternly._

_"What if it isn't pointless?"_

_"Lily and I get to decide that."_

_"Hmph. You guys are only seniors, and already you're treating me like you're my parents," Athena whined. She then brightened. "Hey, does that mean that you and Lily are getting together?"_

_A silence followed. Athena smirked at Jake and Lily, who were too shocked to say anything. Their cheeks began to flush when they finally digested what Athena said. _

_Lily turned her back on Athena. "Shut up, or I'll ask Matt if we can kick you out of his house."_

_"Ah-ha! You're trying to deny it!" Athena chased after the revelation like a dog pursuing a bone._

_Jake held his hands up, trying not to crack up. "But, miss," he choked out. "We plead innocent!"_

_Athena crossed her arms and leaned back. "Oh, really? If I didn't know better, I'll say you two are guilty of being man and wife!" she said in a mock-serious tone._

_Ken and TK, who had been watching this entire ordeal, finally cracked up. They rolled on the floor, laughing their butts off. _

_Jake looked at them, irritation written all over his face. However, a slight curve of his mouth betrayed his true feelings._

_Ken tried to get up, shaking uncontrollably with mirth. "I must say, the evidence against them looks very convincing."_

_TK, playing along, followed, "I agree. At this rate, the jury would have an unanimous agreement."_

_"Yeah, an unanimous agreement made by a two-man jury. That makes A LOT of sense," Lily responded, and she rolled her eyes._

_Athena jumped and pointed at Lily. "Don't deny it! You know it to be true!"_

_Lily cocked her head just then and noted, "Hey, Athena, is that a spider on your shoulder?"_

_"WHAT? __**SPIDER?**__" Athena shrieked. She began running around the room, screaming, giving Lily the perfect opportunity to smack her in the back of the head._

_"Ow!" Athena said as she was sprawled on the floor. "Hey, you're playing dirty!"_

_"Serves you right…" Lily muttered._

_"But that just furthers my statements that you two are a cou…" Athena got that far before Lily snapped. Athena found herself crushed by Lily's weight as she put one foot on Athena's back. Lily then proceeded to beat her unfortunate victim._

_"Ah, stop it! Please! I won't say any mooooooooore!"_

_Matt decided to pop into the guest room then. "What the hell is going on here?" he roared. "I can barely hear what I'm playing on the guitar!"_

_"Nothing, we're just trying to decide if Jake and Lily are a cou – " Athena managed before Lily smacked her again. "Okay, okay! I promise! I swear upon my pride!"_

_Matt just shook his head. "Well, can't you just keep it down until I'm done?"_

_"You know," TK said, "You could just play here and the rest of us could tell you how you performed. Think of us as…reviewers."_

_"I like that idea, actually," Ken declared as he leaned back onto the wall._

_"Yeah!" Athena, who lay on the floor, exclaimed. "You can even sing a love song, maybe that'll get Lily to… OW!" Lily had pounded Athena in the back of the head again._

_Jake decided to play along with the joke. "Honey, I think you can stop beating our daughter now. It is her first day of high school tomorrow, you know."_

_Lily gave him a death stare. "What did you just say?"_

_"Uh…I better go now. Matt, if you would excuse me…" Jake pushed by Matt and ran for it._

_Everyone stared at Lily, who stared at the doorway._

_"__**JAKE SWIFT, YOU'RE A DEAD MAN WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!**__"_

TK smiled. The times he spent with his friends were the times he liked best. Times like those where when he could forget all his troubles.

As he lay on his bed, however, doubts kept crawling back. He pushed them away again and again and, distracted by his actions, he did not notice when he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just warning you now, production of this story will slow down after the break... even though most of us already know that. Anyways...**

**Try to keep those reviews coming in. The more reviews I get, the more feedback and criticism I recieve, and that makes for good feedback.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I only own those OC characters who are there to make the other character's lives miserable once in a while.**

Chapter 3

1 AM was a time at which not many people were out. The people in the bars who partied until dawn made up so little of the population (there's only so many people a bar could entertain.) They technically weren't out either; they were inside a building, after all.

Yes, not many people were out at 1 AM.

Most were sleeping in their beds, peacefully or not.

But no matter what the time, there was always someone out there.

One of those people was a certain fifteen year old boy. Sitting at the balcony of an apartment he never owned, the boy didn't do anything. He just sat there, with his knees hugged to his chest, staring out at the world.

It was late, but the city was never truly dark. There were always the occasional car driving along the relatively deserted streets, lights in rooms flickering, and the moon revealing itself after being covered by the clouds.

It was also never quiet.

The whiz of cars moving, the murmurs of beings, the chirps of animals that somehow stayed invisible to the human eye…

There was always a chill in the air, a chill sometimes refreshing, just as there was always some scent wafting into the balcony, pleasant or otherwise, and he could always taste the energy that the city was packed full of.

It comforted him, knowing that there would always be this constant. That was why he turned to this spot every time he had a problem.

He stared at the city, deep in thought. _I wonder if the city ever feels like it's divided into two sides…Well, I guess it does happen sometimes, like during the presidential elections. But those matters are trivial compared to the issues we currently deal with. I mean, working in the shadows to keep a world safe and subsequently keep our world from running haywire, all while pretending to be "enemies" with the only group of humans that may be able to help us and staying loyal to an evil maniac…Yeah, that's a little awkward._

The boy smiled wryly. _It's funny. We, as humans, work best together. Yet fate just seems intent on driving us farther and farther apart._

He shuddered when he remembered that TK would be going to a different high school than them._ Poor TK. He's going to be alone, far from the rest of us… although Ken…well, he's a genius, so he shouldn't even be in a high school. _

_Anyways... _Jake sighed._ Stupid divorces…I hate it when they break the children's hearts when they're forced to move away from everything familiar to them._

He sat there, thinking. _I wonder what kind of friends TK will meet in his new school. They probably all live around Obaida, considering the fact that he's enrolling there because he lives - where else? – in Obaida now._ He straightened in shock when a stray thought passed his mind. _…I doubt it. Something like that is too coincidental to come up. Even our luck can't be bad, right?_

He furrowed his eyebrows. _But it's possible. TK may meet some of the other digidestined in his new school. Shit. This is bad. If we ever reveal ourselves, and they already end up being friends with TK without knowing that in truth, he's been their enemy for the past couple of months…I don't want to think about what they would do to him. He feels guilty enough as it is – if they start accusing him, they'll break him._

He tugged the sleeves of his orange shirt absent-mindedly, too busy trying to think of a way to solve this dilemma to even care. He didn't even notice when two other beings walked up behind him. He was to busy thinking to be alert.

"Jake?"

Jake shot up from where he was sitting, startled.

_Damn! I've got to be more alert! That's exactly why people end up ambushed, Jake!_ he admonished himself. He turned, putting on his brave face.

"Hey, Lily, Matt. What's up?"

"We should be asking you that, considering the fact that you're up at 1:20 in the morning," Lily spoke softly. She could tell there was something wrong with her best friend.

Jake could tell that Lily knew that something had been bothering him. He looked at Matt, who gave him a pointed look.

It told Jake that Matt knew something was up – but mercifully, that Matt would also give him space.

Matt then proceeded to grab the guitar he was holding onto the whole time and leaned on the balcony railing, strumming his guitar all the while.

Jake sighed. _Heh. I should've suspected nothing less from the bearer of the Crest of Friendship himself and my best friend._

He desperately tried to change the subject, even though he knew it was hopeless. They simply knew too much, but he had to try anyway.

"Hey, I thought you were going to kill me when you caught me."

Lily sighed. _I can't believe he tried to distract us from the topic like this._

"Jake, I was, and I still will, but sitting with you on a balcony of an apartment before the sun even rose yet does not fit in my books as 'capturing.' Now stop avoiding the subject and tell me what's wrong."

Jake laughed nervously. He was never good at lying to his friends. "Eh-heh, uh… hey… Since when was that the subject?"

The looks he received told him that they didn't buy it.

"Fine! I give. Happy?"

He glared at his companions, trying to get them at least budge from their positions.

They didn't move. _Damn…_

Jake sighed. He turned back to look out the balcony at the world.

The silence was almost deafening. Lily wasn't sure how long she could take it; it was bugging her that much. So she barely noticed when Jake started speaking again, in a voice that was much quieter than her normal voice of cheerful loudness.

"I hate how everything just seems to keep changing as we play this game. We're trying so hard to go with the rules, but they keep getting twisted as we go along. Some of us have already voiced our doubts on how long we could keep up this charade," Jake whispered, giving Lily a meaningful glance.

Lily regretted having bursted out in her anger.

"I don't know how long we can keep it up either. I mean, we've been doing this job for at least four years now. Some of us have done it even longer. But ever since we saved Ken from truly being a 'Digimon Emperor,' things started spiraling out of control."

Matt's harsh tone cut through his words. "What?" he hissed. "Are you _regretting_ what you've done to _help_ Ken?"

Jake turned a weary look on Matt. "No, I don't regret it. Ken is a valuable ally and an even better friend. I can see that the Crest of Kindness wasn't given to him without a reason. Besides, nobody should be brainwashed to do evil deeds, just as how Ken was…and the rest of us were."

The three of them just stared out the balcony then, the only sound coming from Matt's guitar, which he had resumed strumming. It went on like this for a few minutes, each with their own thoughts, until Lily finally chuckled.

"Heh…" The other two stared at her, wondering what she could possibly find so funny at a time like this. "Well, that was our fault. We were all selfish…Well, some of us were, anyways. Athena and I joined because we were lonely, but…" She wagged her finger at them, "If you ever mention this to me again, I will vehemently deny it. TK joined because he wanted the Lord to help bring his parents back together, and in turn, that dragged Matt into the mess so he could keep his brother safe…"

"I'm pretty bad at it," Matt grumbled. "But go on."

"Anyways, Matt joined to protect his lil' bro, and you, Jake… You and Ken are probably the only selfless ones here."

Jake sighed. "I disagree. When I first came, I didn't know what was going on. I just joined him…for the thrill of it… and for the challenge. Imagine that, hurting the innocent for the thrill of it! And they say I'm innocent…"

Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here was their leader, Jake, spiraling off into the depths of despair. Her Crest of Confidence gave her the ability to see her opponents' current state of focus, but that wasn't limited to fighting only. She could see that the aura that usually burnt brightly around Jake seemed to fizzle out the longer she watched.

She couldn't take it. She _wouldn't_ take it.

Jake barely noticed the hand that flew towards his face. He only figured out what it was when it reached his face and a loud slap could be heard. He lifted up a hand to touch his burning left cheek. _Damn. She knows how to slap well…_

Lily stood up, temper flaring. She strode right in front of Jake, leaned down, and roughly grabbed Jake's shoulders. She looked into his eyes, holding back a flinch when she saw that Jake's eyes lacked the light they usually held. Without it, he looked unwilling and… lifeless.

Matt continued to watch the spectacle while strumming his guitar strings. He knew that his friends needed to sort this out for themselves, and he gladly gave them some space.

"Jake, look at me."

He obeyed.

"Look into my eyes."

Jake looked into her eyes and shuddered. _Man, she's scary when her eyes start changing color…_He watched as Lily's eyes turned from the normal milk chocolate brown into a dark red color.

_Why must she get taken over by battle senses now?_ he idly wondered. _I guess I'm in for a lot of trouble…_

"I don't care how you view yourself. We have a hand in deciding what your fate is. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one who would admit that you're just as selfless as, say, TK or Ken. So stop beating yourself up. We're your friends. We believe in you. And we will certainly help in beating you up if it means beating some sense into you, you hear me?" she hissed.

Any clueless bystander might've mistaken the sound for the hiss of a snake, but she didn't care. She never did.

Lily stared hard into Jake's eyes, looking for that flash of life. His eyes still looked dull and senseless.

_Oh, shit…_She stopped thinking as she saw a flicker. She looked closer. _Yes, there it is!_ What began as a flicker quickly turned into a warm, merry fire inside his eyes. Lily sighed inwardly. _Jake, you idiot…_she thought, amused. Jake wasn't really the type to get depressed. Feel a little down, yes, but not depressed.

"So, are you going to let go of me now?"

Lily finally released her grip on Jake's shoulders. She realized that her grip was stronger than she thought. _He's going to see some red splotches there for the next few weeks when he showers…_

Jake took his time to move his shoulders around a bit, checking to make sure nothing was dislocated. _If anyone can dislocate a shoulder,_ he thought grimly, _it's Lily._ Feeling satisfied that there were no problems, Jake then turned to Matt.

"So, whatcha think of the show?"

"A little corny, but pleasing nonetheless." Matt joked back. He knew that a joking leader was a good sign of a happier leader. But he could tell there was still one thing weighing Jake's mind down.

"Hey, great leader… I don't think your therapy session is over yet." He noted.

Jake chuckled. _Of course I wasn't going to get away with it._ "Yeah… I'm also a little concerned about TK."

"Why?" Lily pouted. "Surely you can't think TK would get into some trouble? He's grown, Jake. He's got freaking superpowers, for god's sake. I can't imagine you pulling the 'big bro' act. I was kind of expecting Matt to do that."

Jake's next words were barely audible. "What if he meets more of these 'superpowers'?"

It took awhile for Lily to digest the words. However, Matt's face paled almost immediately.

"Oh, shit…" _He can't be serious, right? There's no way that could happen? That's too big of a coincidence! How the hell would something like that happen? _Matt thought desperately. _But it could…Dammit!_

"You see the problem, right, Matt?" Jake asked wryly.

Lily finally understood then. She slumped down the balcony railing. "No way…"

Jake looked down at the floor. "Sorry, guys, but it is possible." He whispered. "And if TK really do meet up with one of them, and becomes friends with him or her… that's going to make revealing our identity much more complicated. And it'll probably destroy their trust in TK, as well."

Matt just sat on the floor, staring at his guitar. _How could I have not seen this coming? Some big brother I turned out to be…TK could be in some serious shit…and it's my fault for not thinking it out!_

Jake noticed his friend's expression. "Matt, it's not your fault. I only thought of it quite recently myself. We're not strategic geniuses, we don't really plan ahead."

Lily sighed. Yeah, this problem is pretty annoying, but it's not _that_ bad. She cleared her throat. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out. And if there's anyone capable of gaining trust back, it's TK. We'll be fine."

Jake and Matt calmed down after that, but it was evident that they were still a bit troubled by the revelations. Matt in particular still had a pale, clammy face. The three of them returned to looking out the balcony in silence, watching the sun creep its way out above the horizon.

Until Jake decided to break the silence.

"Shit. I'm gonna fall asleep in class today."

"Jake, you're worried about that now? Why didn't you worry about that when you were supposed to sleep?"

"I'm probably going to screw up during band practice…"

The three of them took in the ridiculous things they had just said. They stared at each other. Then they started cracking up, forgetting all the troubles that happened only a while ago.

"Ha…let's get out…hehe…of here…he…before someone…ha…calls us crazy…"

###

**My last update before the break ends would probably be Tuesday morning, so you could watch out for that. Now kindly press that blue button below and REVIEW this story. Thanks. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Damn... Spring break is almost over... no more waking up early in the morning just to type up a chapter for this story. :(**

**Oh well, since this is going to be the last day where I was updating like crazy, I figured I would give you guys a treat. Today, two chapters, back-to-back! What do you think of that? :D**

**...well, you can thank me by hitting that nice review button over there...**

_Italics _detonate a thought or flashback.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.**

Chapter 4

TK got up groggily, lying on the mess that he called a bed. His immediate reaction was to check his Digivice for the time. He used to have a digital alarm clock for that purpose, but he was been using his Digivice soon after he got it from the "Lord" because it also serves as a reminder that he has it on him.

_Yeah, it'll be great if I need to pop into the digital world during school, and I end up not having this on me._

TK always found it amusing that the Digidestined, although they had powers that reach the extent of those wielded by superheroes in comic books, it was impossible for them to travel to the Digiworld without a Digivice. _I mean, we could defeat a bunch of supernatural creatures, but we can't seem to walk through a freakin' DOOR between worlds without one of these._

TK grabbed his Digivice from the pocket of his pants and checked the time. _Huh. It's only 6:20,_ He thought. _I don't feel like falling back asleep…I guess I could train a bit before I come back for breakfast. But first, I might as well brush my teeth and everything._

###

TK made sure to walk down the stairs quietly, so that he wouldn't wake up his mother. Not only did he want his mom to catch some well needed sleep, he wanted to avoid any awkward questions about his powers. _Yeah, that would be fun,_ he thought humorlessly. _Trying to convince your mom that these powers help me attempt to stop an evil mastermind while working on the inside…that'll probably give her a heart attack._

TK slipped on his sneakers and quietly padded out the door, closing the door silently behind him. He made sure to leave a note to his mom beforehand about his actions. _Well, what I wrote IS true._ _I AM jogging…just doing some other stuff as well._

With that, TK jogged out to a secluded part of the forest.

###

**Kari, you're not going crazy, right?**

_Of course not, _she snapped back to her other self.

**I never remembered you waking up so early…and just for training, at that!**

_Shut up,_ she retorted. _I need to get stronger if I want to help my friends._

Kari made sure to climb out of bed at six. She didn't plan to leave by 6:20, but it took a while to wake up her brother, who she wanted to help her train. Of course, waking up Tai without disturbing the rest of the family was practically training in itself. _My fucking god, how heavy of a sleeper is he?_

**Wow. I never knew you had the capacity to swear.**

_Hey, I'm fourteen! _Kari had to admit, though. Her other self had a point. She rarely ever swore, so why is she doing so now?

**You're taking this pretty seriously.**

_I know._

"Hey, Kari, are we going to start, or are you just going to stand there all day? If you are, I'll just go back and continue my nap…"

Kari growled. A pink aura started to circle her hands, forming a pair of glove like shapes with claw-like blades connected to the back of each.

"Don't even consider sleeping, bro. I want you to go all out."

Tai sweat dropped. Considering the state his sister was in, he might have to.

###

Soon enough, TK managed to reach the empty clearing. He sighed, remembering how the team helped him make this one, as a gift to him for leaving his old home.

_"Hey, TK, what do you think?"_

_TK couldn't believe it. The whole team took the time to create a little training ground for himself for his new home. He just stared. _

_And stared. _

_And stared._

_"Oi! Answer us, TK! It's not bad, right?" Athena was practically jumping up and down with excitement._

_TK sweat dropped. He wasn't sure what she was so excited about, until she grabbed his arm and started dragging him to the middle of the clearing._

_"Hey! If it's not that bad, that means you can spar with me here, right? Riiiiiiiiight?" Athena started pleading. TK looked to his amused companions, begging for assistance._

_Jake opened his mouth to speak, and TK immediately felt relief coursing through his body. After all, Jake, his leader, would help him out of this predicament._

_"You know, I think there's nothing wrong with that, TK. You and Athena could use the practice. In fact, I think that it'll be very beneficial if you do it now." Jake inwardly smiled. He knew that TK would be after his blood later, but right now, he didn't care._

_TK groaned. So much for being hopeful. He wrenched his arm out of Athena's grip, shaking his head all the while. "Fine, fine, I'll spar with you."_

_Athena beamed, "Yay! I get to spar with TK! Just watch, I'll beat you this time! I've been practicing hard, you know!" At this point, she was blown away by a fair-sized blast. She flipped in mid-air so she could land back on her feet, surprised by the sudden attack. She scowled at TK, who was just leaning back and chilling after using his Boom Bubble attack._

_"No way! That's not fair! How can you materialize your Winged Knuckles while I was speaking and then attack me with it? I mean, I haven't even said we could start yet!" Athena closed her mouth after that so she could sidestep another one of TK's projectiles._

_"Then, are we going to start, or are we going to stand here bickering all day?" TK leaned back and crossed his arms, his Winged Knuckles clearly visible on his fists._

_"Matt, he looks and acts like you more and more every day," Ken whispered to Matt. "See, he's even pulling your 'cool' stance."_

_Matt grimaced at that. "Let's just hope he doesn't inherit one of my lesser traits, then."_

_Ken frowned at that. "Matt, nobody cares. At least, nobody that's worth your compassion cares. You're one of the kindest and caring people I've ever met, and that's coming from me, the bearer of Crest of Kindness, so you better listen. You're loyal to your friends and you support all of us to the end. You've managed to forgive me, the Digimon Emperor, one of the most destructive person in the history in the history of that world. I think you deserve some credit for being awesome," Ken had a evil grin on his face by then, "I know the fangirls would agree."_

_Matt paled at that. "No, don't mention those abominations!"_

_Ken laughed and returned his attention back to the spar, where Athena was running around, harassing TK by continuously thrusting at him with her Shining Spear. Athena was, surprisingly, a cunning fighter, and she used any advantage she could get. In this case, she used the superior reach of her weapon to strike an offensive. That changed, however, when TK ducked and finally decided to grab her spear as it flew over his shoulder._

_Athena gulped. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, because she was able to heat up the shaft of her spear to the point where no one else could hold it, but it was painfully obvious to her that TK only did that so he could hit her with a point-blank Boom Bubble._

_"Ah, I'll just let this go then, and…" Athena yelped as TK launched the shot. Quickly releasing her weapon as if stung, she rolled out of the blast's way. TK took that time to dispose of the weapon by impaling it into one of the trees on the perimeter._

_Athena gulped. She knew that if she decided to go hand-to-hand, she wouldn't stand a chance. She quickly glanced around for any way around TK. Jumping over him wouldn't work, it'll just leave her a sitting duck to TK's Boom Bubble during her hang time. An opportunity to roll around him or through his legs was unlikely. Athena decided to just engage TK and look for opportunity while she stayed on the defensive._

_"Not that I would enjoy that," she muttered as TK charged right at her._

_She shifted her head left as TK's fist whooshed right past her face. "Yes!" she exclaimed. TK was overextended after that charge, making the perfect opportunity to speed past him and run for the spear._

_Or so she thought. _

_TK spun around with his remaining momentum and dealt a roundhouse kick to her ribs with his left foot and she hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. TK immediately sprang onto her, keeping her down with one foot and planting a Winged Knuckle right at her throat. He smiled._

_"Thanks, A," he said softly, "For trying hard even after you lost your weapon."_

_Athena was puzzled. "Why would you say that? I didn't even put up a respectable fight against you. I'm still so weak…"_

_"It's alright. You knew that once your spear was gone, you had almost no way to get it back. But you went ahead and tried to fight me anyways. It means you were still hoping for a miracle. That's good." TK stood up and dusted himself off before continuing. "As long as you hope, miracles can happen. But if you don't…that's when they cease to exist."_

_"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Athena said. "So says the bearer of the Crest of Hope. Aren't you supposed to say that?"_

_"I am. But I'm also supposed to believe it, which I fail to do sometimes."_

_Athena cocked her head at that. She walked back with TK and rejoined the others, who've been watching. Jake and Lily both gave her nods of satisfaction, Matt ruffled her hair, saying, "You've gotten stronger." And Ken was busy giving her criticism about her fighting style. It wasn't until TK almost walked into the front door, the two of them behind everyone else, when she spoke._

_"I think…" Athena said slowly, trying to gather her thoughts together. "It's normal for someone to lose hope some time or another. It's not right to stay that way, though. And that's why you hold the Crest of Hope. You can always get it back. And if we have to, we'll help you do so."_

_TK smiled warmly at that. "Thanks, A. I'll keep that in mind."_

_Little did Athena know how much her words affected him._

TK lost his hope of having a happy life many times in his existence. But he always managed to get it back. And he intends to do the same now, even when the divorced forced him farther away from his friends and his dear brother than it has ever before. He vented his feelings into his hands, watching as yellow light cloaked around them.

Hm? He watched, puzzled. _Why is the light surrounding my hands completely? My Winged Knuckles don't take up that much space, and this has never happened before, unless…_He pieced it together then. His powers were finally evolving, spurred on by his continued feelings of hope towards his ever-deteriorating predicament. He watched as the light finally solidified into a pair of golden gauntlets, fitted snugly over his hands.

_Nice…This is a totally sweet upgrade._ He thought. _I wonder if that means my Boom Bubble's power went up…_He focused energy into his gauntlets, the way he would with his old knuckles, and released that energy with a punch directed towards a tree twenty yards away.

Instead of the old missile of air, out came a fist sized beam of yellow energy streaming from his gauntlet. He stopped channeling his energy then, astonished as the beam hit the tree and blew into a flash of yellow light.

TK shielded his eyes with one hand, the intensity of the light hurting his eyes. When the flash disappeared, he looked back at the tree, or the lack of it.

_Oh…my…God…_He gaped. The tree…

It was gone. All that remained of it was charred ashes. _That tree was huge, too…A large maple, fifteen feet in diameter…and it just went POOF…because of me._

TK stared at his newly clad hands with apprehension. _I probably should watch what I'm doing with these…that power…it's scary…_

Deciding to call it a day (he was still creeped out by the charred remains of the poor maple), TK jogged back to his house for breakfast.

###

"Hey, Kari… I think we can call it a day," Tai panted, his battle axe held by his sagging arm.

"But I need to get stronger…" Kari said, and pouted. To be truthful, Tai had no idea why the hell his little sister would say that. Couldn't she tell that she's running off an adrenaline high? When that fell, she was going to be even more wiped out than he was now.

"Look, Kari, you're running on adrenaline right now. I respect that; it means you're taking this seriously. But we have to go to school today, and I'm not going to drag you there because you're unconscious. Plus, we need to eat."

"Big brother and his appetite…you would think mom's cooking would've fixed that by now," Kari grumbled as she complied. Tai made his weapon dissipate as he walked back home with his sister.

"Hey, don't complain. I didn't have to wake up early and train you, you know."

"Yeah, it's just that my weapon already reached Champion status, but it's the only one that's matched up with other weapons that are still in their Rookie stages," Kari mused. "It's kind of discerning."

Tai shrugged. "Hey, don't worry about it. Your weapon could just be a late bloomer. I'm sure that whatever you have is going to pack a punch sooner or later. You carry the Crest of Light, after all."

_Some light I am,_ Kari retorted mentally. _I can't even back you guys up properly._

"Hey," Tai spoke again. "Don't dwell on it too much, alright? Besides, you've gotten stronger since the last fight. The speed you move at…it's starting to get to my head. I might have to take some aspirin when I get home, because trying to hit you with my battle axe just ended up giving me headaches."

"Good! Now I hope I can do something like that to the opponent when we're going against the real deal."

"Gosh, not even a mention of pity about your brother. You can be so cold sometimes…"

Kari couldn't help but smile as Tai childishly pouted. "Whatever, big bro. Just make sure you're ready to go when the bus comes."

"Yes, boss." Tai rolled his eyes as he entered the house. Still smiling, Kari went in after him.

_I'm actually looking forward to school today. This is a good day._


	5. Chapter 5

**Part two of my back-to-back session! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Don't want to deal with the court. :D**

Chapter 5

"Athena, remember, no fighting other students without a really good reason. We don't need you to be suspended during the first day of school."

Jake was lecturing Athena as the two of them were walking towards their high school. Lily hung at Athena's other side, giving Athena a glare that she hoped would be enough to keep her younger cousin from doing anything rash.

"Yes, Mom, yes, Dad." Athena replied cheekily. Lily smacked her on the back of the head.

"Again, don't _call_ us that."

"Yes, M…" Athena got smacked again.

Jake sighed. _Some things just don't change easily…_ He idly thought. _I wonder how TK's been doing. He probably got up early to train, but he never comes back home late enough to be late to school…I'm sure he's fine…for now…_

###

On the contrary, TK was running through the streets, weaving in and out of the pedestrians walking amiably around the sidewalks. _Dammit, I can't believe I forgot my backpack at home…And my Digivice was in it, too! That attack I did today was really knocking me out of whack…Now I'm trying to catch up to the bus! TK, you baka!_

TK skidded to a stop when he saw the stop sign and the cars whizzing past the street. He looked farther, and saw the school bus a block ahead, a red light also impeding its progress. _C'mon, this is my chance to catch up! But how do I get past these cars? I can't run through them, obviously…gah! I guess I really have no choice…_

TK ran towards the post holding the streetlights up. He jumped and put one foot in front so that it landed on the post. He took two steps up the post, bringing his current height above the ground to about four and a half feet. _This should be high enough…_

Ignoring the stares of those passing by, TK twisted so that both feet were planted on the post. He kneeled down, his eyes fixed on the opposite post, fifteen feet away.

_Now!_ He sprang from his position at the post, legs pumping him above the passing cars. TK sailed over the traffic, flipping around so that his feet would meet the opposite cars. He distinctly saw a flash directed at him as he did so. _Great…I bet I'm going to end up on the news…_He fervently hoped that nobody properly saw his face because of the speed he was moving as he landed at the opposite pole. He immediately sprang to the ground from there.

Planting a hand in between him and the ground, TK absorbed the impact into his hand. He vaulted from his handstand back onto his feet, and took off as soon his feet touched the ground. He shouldn't worry himself too much. After all, he was right. Nobody managed to properly catch the sight of his face, not even the camera.

###

Kari couldn't believe it when her brother was right about being late to school. Luckily, this was not the first time that it happened to both of them, so they knew what they were doing. In this case, they were running on rooftops (cue the TMNT music.) Kari wasn't a bit worried about jumping from rooftop to rooftop. She already fought against monsters that were many times more powerful her, and she still lived. She surely could manage a twenty-foot jump without killing herself.

Tai jumped off the building edge first, whooping as he did so. Kari rolled her eyes. _It's amazing that our antics haven't been caught by the news yet,_ she thought. _This buffoon just LOVES to attract attention to us at times like these. Baka nii-san._

Kari followed her brother and jumped off the building edge as well. She took the time to look down the three stories towards the streets as she was flying through the air. _Wait…what the…?_

Kari's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what they were telling her mind. At least part of her couldn't.

**That's probably another digidestined, huh?**

Kari couldn't help but agree with her other self's point. There's no way a normal person could (or would) just run up a streetlight pole so he could rebound off it to reach the other side without getting hit by cars.

_But…who? It can't be Izzy or Sora- they get to school with their parents in a car. Mimi doesn't really care enough to run to school like that- I mean, one time she came into school at 10:00 because she was chasing after a bunny she met when walking past the park. Joe…well, Joe doesn't act that rash. Yolei? No, I don't see any purple hair. It's too tall to be Cody. Could it be Davis?_

**Davis doesn't live that way, Kari. He lives close to the school, remember?**

_Then who could it be…? Unless…_Kari put the pieces together. _No way! You mean it's one of those "Power Rangers"?_

**You sound really surprised at that. Why?**

_I…I don't know. It seems pretty obvious, now that I think about it._

Kari landed onto the next building. She hurried after her brother, wanting to see if he gets the same idea.

"Hey, Tai! You see that guy wearing yellow and green over there, the one with the blue backpack?" Kari yelled.

"Why? Don't tell me you have an interest in him!" Tai yelled back.

"BAKA NII-SAN! I'm only saying this because that guy just jumped off a streetlight pole to get across traffic! There's no way any normal person could do that, and I can't think of any team members that resembles him."

Tai's eyes narrowed. "You don't mean…?"

"YES!" Kari practically howled. "This might be the 'Power Rangers' trying to infiltrate us!"

Tai shook his head. "I doubt it. They aren't that careless. If they were going infiltrate, they would make sure they seem as normal a human as possible. Either way, we'll keep an eye on him. Now throw off your bag; we're going to have to roll for the next jump."

Kari groaned. She slung off her bag from her shoulder and threw it onto the building below her as her brother did the same with his backpack. _Eighteen foot drop…I can do it._ She reassured herself as she watched her brother drop over the building edge. Without hesitation, she did the same.

Solid concrete came up to greet her. She braced herself for the impact. As her feet touched the ground, Kari transferred that downwards movement into a forward movement, somersaulting on the roof to deaden the impact. She grabbed the bag that was now at her side and sprinted with her brother towards the building's edge, where there was a back alley where they could land.

Tai and Kari dropped towards the wall of the next building and landed on it. They rebounded off the wall then, jumping down towards the opposite wall. When they landed on that, they just dropped the last six or so feet and landed safely on their feet. Wasting no time, they ran out of the alleyway, and smacked straight into another person.

###

_Ugh, of all the times to crash into someone, why now?_

TK was sitting on the floor, rubbing his head. _Damn…now what? I hope the light didn't change yet…_

"Sorry." He said as he sprang back onto his feet at the same time as the other two did the same thing. He planned to start running past them when he caught a glance of their faces.

_No way. I'm really screwed now…_

###

Kari's mind whirled into action as she saw the stranger's eyes widen. _So he knows us…_Kari's suspicions grew. The stranger tried to hide his expression, though, hiding it behind a cheery smile.

"So, are you guys going to high school today, too?"

Tai nodded. He knew that he shouldn't seem too suspicious; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to gather much info on this guy.

"Yeah, we're kinda late, as you can see…"

"I know. Let's hurry up."

The three of them ran after the bus again. But Kari had the nerve to ask another question, to see if he would mess it up.

"Say, what's your name?"

The boy's expression paled. Kari filed that into her "Suspicion" folder.

"Takari Takaishi, though you could call me TK. You?"

_Hm…well, he had enough common sense to ask for our names, instead of going with the fact that he already knows them._ Kari thought. She replied, "Hikari Kamiya, but call me Kari. This is my brother Taichi." She gestured towards her brother as they weaved through the crowds.

Tai grinned. "Make sure to call me Tai, though, or you'll suffer…consequences." He cracked his knuckles. TK only nodded at that before looking back at the light.

"Crap. We have about twenty seconds before the bus could start moving again."

The three of them increased their speed at that.

###

The gears in TK's head were also turning like crazy at this point.

_Damn…I practically gave myself away… the girl, Kari, was pretty observant._ He thought. He pushed that thought aside, and focused on the more pressing matter.

_The thing is, how should I progress from here? It's pretty obvious that they're onto me. Should I just admit it? No…I'll let them figure it out. That way, they get some time to figure out a way to deal with me. I do hope that they plan a diplomatic meeting first…otherwise I'm dead. I'm good, probably better than all of them with my new upgrade, but I don't think I could take on nine people at once…_

TK then thought about his attitude towards the brother-sister pair. _I thought I was going to act like a prick. _TK thought. _Some prick I turned out to be…screw it, I'll be the way I am with my group, at least with the other Digidestined. Might as well get used to it – we're going to defect soon, after all. I don't mind acting like a prick to everyone else, especially if they're acting like idiots._

TK's train of thought was disrupted when Kari yelled, "We got five seconds left!" _Damn, I forgot about that. We're lucky that there's a bridge here._ The three of them hastily took the steps up the bridge three at a time. By the time the green light turned on, they were three quarters of the way across the bridge.

TK looked back at the bus. _It's not far enough away. I need more time…_Making his decision, he reached the stairs, but instead of running down it, he vaulted over the railing and dropped towards the sidewalk.

Kari and Tai looked at each other as TK did that. Tai shrugged. "Hey, this is just more proof for us. Plus, it's not a bad idea." He proceeded to vault over the railing as well. Kari followed, ignoring the stares of other people as she did so.

###

"Mommy, look, those people are jumping off the railing!"

The mother didn't say anything back. She just stared as the three teenagers sprang from the jump like nothing happened. _Kids these days…_She turned back to her three-year old daughter, ready to give a lecture about the dangers of jumping off a fifteen foot bridge.

###

Kari couldn't believe the guts of this kid. _Heh…crazy kid… all these antics in public just to catch a bus._ She shook her head in amusement. _Maybe he's with the enemy, but he's a funny guy._ She ran after the kid and her brother, who were both ahead of her. The bus just speeded past her at that point. She checked how far ahead the bus station was. _It's too far. How the heck are we supposed to reach it?_

###

TK growled as he saw the bus pass him. _No way! You're not getting away from me after all that effort I put into catching up with you!_ He sprinted faster, but the pedestrians were blocking his way. _Grr…There has to be another way…_TK looked at the curb of the street and sighed. _Mom is going to kill me if she ever find out about this…_ He jumped onto the curb and sprinted across it, without anyone in his way. Nobody was crazy enough to run on the curb where a car might hit them, after all. _C'mon! I can do this! Just a little faster…_

###

"I know we're trying to get to the bus, but this is ridiculous!"

Kari couldn't believe it. He actually decided to run on the curb, passing cars be damned. _Doesn't he know how to give up? Wow…_

"Shut up and enjoy yourself, Kari. THIS IS AWESOME!" Tai yelled back.

_Of course nii-san would enjoy crap like this._

Kari continued sprinting on the curb. She had to admit, the kid, TK, had a good idea. On the curb, they could run undeterred. She watched as the bus slowed to a craw as it reached the bus stop, TK only five yards behind.

_Wow! He actually made it! This kid is crazy…but he saved me from a detention! At least, he would if he hold onto the door…_Kari was unsure if he would do that. Why would he care about her well-being, after all? She pushed her body to her limit, fearing the notion.

###

TK looked back at Tai and Kari, who were still about ten yards behind him. _Damn…I'll have to stall the bus driver…wait, why would I care?_

**You care because you're a nice person, and you really want to be friends with them, the 'Lord' be damned.**

_True, but why am I talking to you? You're me…_

**Hey, don't ask me. You're the one going through the stress right now. It is a pretty tight pickle you're in right now.**

_You know what, I don't want to know anymore._ TK turned back to the issue at hand. _I'm going to go with the asking the bus driver to wait._

"Um, sir, would you please wait a little bit so my friends could catch up?"

The bus driver raised an eyebrow coolly at TK. "Sorry, kid, but I have a schedule to follow."

TK jumped right after that statement. "But, sir, can't you have a little mercy?"

"I can't do that, kid. I'm sorry, but there are other people waiting for the bus at other stations, you know."

_Shit. Any counterargument to that would just sound stupid…I guess I could bribe him. That usually works._

"No, kid, I'm not going to accept any bribes." _So much for that…_ "Now get your butt inside so I can get out of here."

Tai and Kari reached the bus by then, panting and wheezing heavily. TK entered the bus then, smiling at the bus driver. "Thanks for waiting, sir."

The bus driver grunted. "I knew I should've just accepted the bribe…" Tai and Kari gave him smiles of gratitude as well as they climbed in.

The three of them began to walk down the aisle of the school bus when the students already there erupted with noise.

"Dude, that was so awesome!"

"I can't believe you guys actually jumped off the bridge!"

"Hey, who are you, new kid? 'Cause that was sick!"

TK had a bored look on his face. Kari was busy rolling her eyes while her brother was scratching the back of his neck sheepishly, muttering, "It was nothing…"

Kari couldn't take the attention any longer. She knew that the kids were only talking to them now because they did something 'cool.'

_Hypocrites, the lot of them__!_ _I haven't forgotten how people like you treated my brother and I when we were young._

"Tai, we should sit before we fall over. C'mon." She dragged her brother towards the back.

Tai happily acquiesced. He, like his sister, was not fond of people like them. He just wasn't comfortable with outright rejection to strangers, and he didn't have the mindset to subtly do it, either.

Kari turned back to TK. _It should be interesting to see if he has the same mindset as those morons._

"Hey, TK, want to join us?"

TK heard the strangers arguing against it. "No, please stay here!"

"You're pretty interesting, so stay."

"Yeah! Unlike those losers."

TK just held his hands up and waited for them to quiet down. Kari's heart sank. _So he does have that kind of mindset…well, what do you expect from the enemy?_

But then why did she feel miserable?

**You like him, even though he's with the enemy.**

_Shut up…hey, which 'like' are we talking about?_

**That's for me to know and you to find out.**

_... shut up._

When the hubbub finally died down, TK spoke.

"You know, you shouldn't call someone a loser right after you called them cool. It makes people scared of being cool, considering the fact that they could turn into a loser just as fast. Don't you agree?" TK noted. "So, if you would excuse me, than I'll be off."

There was a stunned silence as TK moved towards the back, to where Tai and Kari were sitting. Then one guy shouted, "Ah, who cares? They're losers, anyways."

"If I had a dollar every time someone said something like that…" Kari heard TK mutter.

Kari smiled. _Or maybe not. Some enemy he's turning out to be._

###

**Yeah...That's the end of the back-to-back session...Now I have to go ahead and write two chapters by Sunday so that I stay one chapter ahead of the story ahead...it's worth it.**

**I think the fact that the "good guys" already suspect who TK is made the story rather anti-climatical, but what can I say? I got lazy. So now, we'll watch how they deal with these suspicions. :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**I actually made the deadline... Amazing!**

**Anyways, this chapter actually has a bit of worthwhile action for once. I'm not sure if I did the scenes justice though. Make sure to review and tell me, because I'm going to be doing a lot of action scenes, and I need all the feedback I can get!**

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed. I did not know So many people were wary of this story... I hope I continue to do a good job!**

**Now maybe I should stop spamming the exclamation points...**

Chapter 6

TK managed to get out of the bus without too much incident. He knew he greatly pissed off a lot of people in the school bus when he rejected all of their offers on the bus.

Thus, he wasn't surprised when he noticed a lot of muttering and pointed staring at him as he walked along the school grounds. _It's nothing new…They'll probably think I'm cool again after they see me play basketball, just to think I'm a nerd when my grades come up…hypocrites._

He looked around, trying to ignore the glares being shot in his direction. Not an easy task if you considered the fact that he was literally surrounded by them. _Hm…at least the school doesn't look too bad…I wonder what the playgrounds would be like__._ _Wait, why am I thinking about playgrounds? How can I possibly be worried about playgrounds while my fate is probably being decided even as I think about this crap?_

**You're still a 14-year old kid, even though you're going to be a part of saving the world or something, and you do love to play basketball.**

_That IS true…Ah, what the heck, I'll go check it out._ With that conclusion in his mind, he moved off towards the back of the school building. After all, that's where any playground for a school should be, right?

###

Kari and Tai slunk quietly away from TK as they were getting off the bus. It wasn't too difficult, considering the fact that TK got somewhat distracted by all the hostile glances he received from the other students.

_Geez, he must've set a record for most enemies made in one moment._ _I wonder if he realized that in some ways, they make worse enemies than the Digidestined ever would._

**Why would you care?**

_Hey, stop butting in when I'm thinking._

**I **_**am**_** you. How am I supposed to butt into something I'm already doing?**

_Just shut up._

**Not until you answer the questions.**

Kari left her internal dialogue there to search for the other members of the Digidestined. Sure enough, they were all there, waiting by the large oak tree off in some corner that was previously chosen to be the place they meet when they all get into high school. She took a glance at her brother; from his slightly scrunched eyebrows and small frown on his face, Kari could tell that Tai was trying to come up with a way to break the news without causing an uproar.

_Not happening. We might as well get it over with as fast as we can, and come up with an idea from here._

The two of them reached the rest of the team by then. Kari took a look at all of them, trying to figure out what kind of expression would appear on their faces.

Izzy was, as usual, sitting at the base of the tree, messing around with his laptop.

Yolei waved at Kari before going back to pestering Izzy about the hardware differences between desktops and laptops – and Izzy efficiently tuned Yolei out.

Sora was lazily bouncing a tennis ball up and down with her racket, more interested in Yolei's fruitless efforts to get Izzy to listen than the ball and racquet themselves.

Cody and Joe were having a serious discussion about their future occupations.

"I'm not sure if I want to be a doctor or lawyer," Cody sighed.

"Hm…I can't say too much, I only know about the doctor side…" Joe mused.

Kari overheard Davis' exasperated shout: "Why are you asking me this? I'm not a girl! Go ask Sora or Kari!"

It was obvious that Mimi's efforts to tell him what he thought of her outfit were grating on his nerves.

Kari only sighed. _They're going to totally forget what they were doing after we spill this one over their heads…_

Sora, the ever watchful, motherly bearer of the Crest of Love, was the first to notice the troubled looks on the siblings' faces. "Hey, what's wrong? Did you guys forget your homework or something?" she asked as she continued to deftly bounce the ball on her racquet.

Tai leaned on the tree with a grunt. "I wish. No, the homework is safely tucked in my backpack. No, what happened was a lot worse than something like that," he muttered.

Mimi heard what he said as she sauntered up to Kari, finally giving the poor Davis a break from her questions. Confusion welled up inside her brain. Being the bearer of the Crest of Sincerity, she was compelled to speak whatever came to her mind. And what was at the top of her mind now was: "Why would you say that, Tai? What could be worse than forgetting your homework?"

Mimi then spotted Kari and worriedly asked her, "Hey, what do you think? I'm not sure if going with a school uniform look really works on me…"

It was clear her train of thought had been completely abandoned.

"It's fine," Kari responded, voice monotone as she sat down and put her hands into her hair.

_Our situation is not._

Davis had followed Mimi when she spotted Kari, never wasting a chance to hang out with Kari… not that Tai would mind. Her usually overprotective brother had laughed hysterically at Davis' attempts to date her, which was something she did not appreciate.

She'd rejected him thousands of times already. _Where's the over-protective brother when you need him? This is harassment if I've ever seen a case of one._

The last thing she needed now was for Davis to ask for a date now of all times.

Luckily, Davis hadn't been blessed by the twin deities of Courage and Friendship for no reason. He could tell that something was seriously bothering his leader and his younger sister. He also knew that if he asked her for a date now of all times, she'd sock him in the face. While his courageous side wanted him to try anyways, he knew that wasn't the way to be a good friend.

And a good friend is exactly what Davis wanted to be.

"What's wrong? Did someone try to force you into dating them? I'm the only person who can do that!" Davis joked as she continued to slump, her hand still buried in her scalp.

Kari shot him a glare and Davis' grin slid of his face like goo.

"That was supposed to be a joke…." He muttered as he backed off. The situation was practically shouting at him to give her some space unless she says otherwise.

Kari sighed. "I know…it's just I'm not in the mood."

By then, everyone else had noticed the curtain of gloom that shut itself upon the siblings. Yolei finally decided to stop bothering Izzy in favor of finding out what was going on with the two of them; Cody and Joe stopped their conversation as well to help their friends.

Izzy stayed where he was, still fiddling with his laptop, but keeping an ear out all the same. _This might turn out to be worth looking into, after all._

"What's with you guys?" Yolei was, as always, yelling. "You're feeling so depressed, yet I have no idea what kind of reason you would do that? Tell us already, won't you?" She sighed, then in an uncharacteristic manner, continued softly, "We can't help you if we don't know what's going on. So please… tell us."

"Patience, Yolei," Cody cautioned. "Kari and her brother are not the type to be brought down to the earth so easily. If they're acting like this, they have a reason. Just wait it out until they wish to reveal it themselves."

Tai muttered, "Of course we have a reason. Anything having to do with the game is enough of a reason."

Everyone paled at that, except for Izzy, who continued to work on his laptop. _Though I must admit, the conversation gets more and more interesting every minute._

Any random student passing by would think Tai was talking about a real game, and likely the next soccer match, at that, considering that he was the captain of the soccer team.

But the Digidestined knew better.

Tai would only refer to one place as 'the' game – the Digiworld. After all, he was the one who thought that the world was like a game in the beginning, only to be horribly wrong. To that day, he referred to the Digiworld as "the" game to remind himself that in actuality, it was far from a game.

"Really? What happened there? Should we go - " Joe began.

"Don't worry, it's fine there. It's us we're worried about," Kari interrupted.

"Why would you say that?" Everyone asked.

"When we were running on the rooftops to try to catch up to the bus, we saw this kid doing exactly the same thing on the streets. He crossed a street filled with speeding cars by springing off the side of a streetlight pole. No ordinary human can do something like that. And it wasn't any of you," Kari said quietly.

Izzy stopped typing a long time ago to hear what Kari had said. _What? How is someone supposed to do that? It's impossible for a human being to spring far enough to cross a street like that, so he must be a digidestined. But it's not any one of us, so who could it be? Unless…_The pieces came together at that point, putting together an unlikely picture. Yet, that picture seemed to get more convincing by the second.

Kari heard a soft thud and turned to see that Izzy had dropped his laptop from his lap. _Well, he figured it out. Not surprised. Now what about everyone else?_ She turned back to the audience.

Sora was standing completely still; the tennis ball dropped right by the racquet outstretched in her arm. Mimi and Yolei were gaping at her like a fish. Joe's eyebrows were furrowed in thought. Cody's eyebrows were furrowed too, but for a totally different emotion altogether. Davis was pinching himself, trying to check if he was still sleeping.

"No way…" Davis muttered. "Kari, do me a favor and slap me."

Kari slapped him.

Davis spun around once before falling onto the ground. "Ow! Well, at least now I know it's true," he muttered as he picked himself up from the ground.

Kari shot a few more anxious looks at Cody. Knowing him, she was sure that Cody would be out for murder anytime soon.

_We can't have him do that just yet…Not until we figure out what he's doing here…_

"Don't worry about it," Joe muttered as he noticed Kari's expression. "I'll take care of Cody. We really can't have him charged for manslaughter yet, after all." He gave a hollow laugh.

Kari gave a fake laugh of her own, as well. _Manslaughter, not murder. There's another one who doesn't really think too highly of 'TK.'_

Joe and Tai were currently hounding Cody, trying to talk him out of whatever he wanted to do. Tai was admonishing, "Before you even do anything, how can you tell if he's the guy? We haven't told you what he looked like yet."

Meanwhile, Joe was trying to get Cody to think rationally. "Think, Cody. Would hurting the guy change anything?"

Cody just ground his teeth at his companions' pestering. "Then tell me what he looks like, Tai, so I could get on with business. Joe, I know it wouldn't change anything in the past, but what if it can change the future? I'm willing to take the chance of being completely irrational if it would make things better for the innocent."

"Why don't we take the time to decide whether or not this 'intruder' is innocent or not first?" Yolei reasoned. However, her face was strained as she spoke, showing that she, too, did not think anything good out of this mystery person.

"Hmph." Cody stopped trying to charge off after that. He crossed his arm and avoided the rest of his teammate's gaze. "It's obvious that nobody is letting me do anything just yet. But make sure to tell me when I can start. I want to tear him apart limb by limb. And I know he's a guy, too, because of some tidbits that our great leader let slip."

Kari shot a glare at her brother. _Baka! So careless…_Tai could only give an apologetic smile in return. She then turned to Cody and sighed.

"Fine, I'll show you who the person is if we ever see him. But in return, try not to act antagonistic … or at least, not too much so. It's not going to help if we show that we know who he really is."

Davis decided to return the team to reality by noting the time. "Guys, we have about ten minutes left before the school doors open, so can we start to wrap this up? I want to spend some time at the soccer field…"

Kari inwardly groaned. _Boys. So thick sometimes…_

But she knew David had a point. Some of the other members looked a little too nervous. It was time to wrap things up. They could worry later.

"Alright, then," Tai said. "I'll give Sora, Mimi, Joe, and Izzy a quick recap of what happened. The rest of you can go do whatever you want. And Cody, no rash movements, okay?"

"People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Cody mumbled as he trudged away towards the school gates.

Kari sighed as she, Yolei, and Davis walked to the back of the school grounds.

_Knowing those two, they'll want an explanation right now._

The two of them proved Kari to be right then when they gave her hopeful puppy faces.

Kari facepalmed.

_Damn…stupid puppy face! I can only refuse it when Davis is asking me out on a date…_

"Fine. I'll give you the short version, since somebody," and she glared at Davis then, "wants to get to the soccer field…"

###

TK knew he was in trouble as soon as he stepped onto the court.

While Tai and Kari were busy telling the rest of their group about him, TK managed to wander into the basketball courts located at the back.

For a long while, he stood outside the gates, watching the people inside play. He was instantly drawn to a particularly peculiar game that didn't look fair at all. _Now why would they do that? I always played in games that were divided as fairly as possible, even if it ended up being me versus everybody else. It made the game fun._

He studied the game, picking out what the teams were. It became obvious to him that though it was a three-on-two, it was really a one-on-two: the two tall, buff looking guys against the kid with the blond hair.

Unfortunately for the kid, the other two on his team couldn't really do much.

TK sighed as the kid skillfully executed a bounce pass through an opening between both of his defenders, only for his teammate to fumble the ball out of the court.

_They're scared,_ TK noted. _And this is the problem with having an inferiority complex…Man, I feel bad for them. I bet they'll play a lot better if they weren't shaking in their boots. _

TK walked into the basketball courts and made his way around the court in which the game was being played. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw one of the scared kids preparing to shoot a three from the far corner, opposite of where he was currently.

One of the burly kids was busy jeering at him, saying, "Let him shoot. It's going to be an air ball anyways."

The shooter gulped and threw a prayer right at the basket.

TK stopped and waited as the ball bounced off the rim and continued to sail towards the edge of the court, preparing to catch the ball once it got out.

It never happened. The blond haired one ran right after the ball and took a leap as he caught it. He quickly threw the ball back into the court before he landed and stumbled smack dab into TK. TK braced himself from the impact when he saw the blond charging straight at him, so he only wobbled a bit from the hit. He quickly grabbed the blond's hand before he toppled onto the floor, and pulled him back up.

"Thanks," the blond said as he dusted himself off. "Please get out of the way next time, though."

"Sorry about that," TK apologized. "Especially since the other team already scored while I was helping you."

The blond chuckled. "It's alright. I doubt I would've been able to do anything about it even if you weren't in the way." He did a double take once he truly glanced at TK. "Say, I never saw you around here before…who are you?"

TK smiled. "Takeru Takaishi. Call me TK, though. I recently moved here. That might be why you never saw me."

"Ah…" the blond nodded thoughtfully. "I'm Willis. Welcome to Obaida. I hope you won't have to deal with jerks like these." He shifted his head towards the two burly members who were busy yelling at him to hurry up.

TK sighed. "I'm getting sick of those idiots. Say, would you mind if I play in place of one of your two teammates?"

"Do me a favor. Take place of both of them. They're only playing because the jerks forced them to make the game 'fair.' As if…" Willis said with a roll of his eyes.

TK chuckled. "Hey, it's not going to be fair anyways. I'll play."

"Hey, blondies, hurry up, won't you? Or are you starting to chicken out?"

Willis just waved the comment off and shouted to his former teammates, "Hey, Tom, Jason, take a break. TK here will take your spots. That is, if you guys wouldn't mind…"

Tom and Jason left the court without a moment's hesitation, relief written all over their sweat-covered faces. Tom, the one who made that three pointer shot, muttered to TK as he passed by: "Good luck, dude. You're going to need it." Jason nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Take care of my bag, won't you?"

TK handed over his bag as Willis checked the ball to one of the other guys. His teammate cut across the backdoor, and the first guy chucked the ball at him. TK popped up in the ball's path and caught it as if the pass was meant for him.

Alarmed, the second person ran right after TK. TK just spun around his defender and charged right at the basket.

_An open lane means easy layup. That's the math. _

The ball went into the basket. TK turned and walked to the foul line, shrugging at Willis' amazed look. That look quickly turned into a mischievous smile as Willis nodded to himself.

Scowling, Thug One checked the ball to Willis. Willis handed it off to TK, who immediately fired a floater.

"Ha, an air ball. Let it go out!" Thug One shouted at his teammate. He turned to watch the ball come down…

Only to see Willis jump up, catch the ball, and shoot it with the same motion, the ball careening off the board and into the basket. Willis landed from his jump and walked back to the foul line for the next check, high-fiving TK on the way.

"You're right. This isn't fair at all. We're going to slaughter them."

###

"So you're saying you saw this guy do a superhuman feat in public, bumped into him by accident, and then you guys did a few more superhuman feats just to chase after a school bus?" Yolei asked as a confirmation.

Kari nodded. Yolei started rubbing her forehead, thinking. "Hm…if this guy really was here to infiltrate our group, he's not doing a good job of hiding his identity."

"Yeah, I know…"

Kari and Yolei were wandering around the back of the school. Davis had already run off to the soccer field, raring for a bit of action before the start of school. Yolei was now taking this time to bother Kari about the whole incident with TK.

"Do you like him?"

That question caught Kari off guard completely. "… what. Did. You. Say?"

"Ah ha! So you do like him! I'm onto you!" Yolei wagged a finger at Kari. "I didn't know you were into the bad boy types! What would Tai say?"

"Wh – I didn't even hear the question!" Kari sputtered. "How does that translate into 'I like him'?"

"Pssssssh." Yolei waved off Kari's statement. "You're in complete denial…"

"But – but…Don't I get any say in this?"

"Nope." With that, Yolei started running away from Kari, shouting, "There's so much blackmail material I could get from this situation… What fun!"

"Why, you - " With that. Kari started to chase Yolei, screaming, "Get back here! I'm so going to tear you apart!"

"Nyah! I'm not stopping if that's what you're going to end up achieving!"

###

Willis and TK were unstoppable.

There just wasn't any other way to put it. The other two thugs already recruited two more friends to play them. The two of them were unfazed. Sure, the score was a little closer, but the humiliation remained. In fact, the levels of shame the thugs were experiencing probably rose when word spread around that there was a two-on-four going on in the basketball courts. So now they were being humiliated in front of about fifty people.

Willis slipped a behind the back pass to TK when he was doubled teamed. TK grabbed it and charged at his two defenders. The ball skipped across the floor as he did a crossover past Thug Three. He stopped then and prepared to shoot.

Thug Four saw this and ran right towards him, jumping in front of the oncoming shot.

It never came.

TK just held onto the ball as Thug Four sailed past his face. He finally let go and shot when the thug's unbelieving face flew out of his line of sight, watching it go into the basket with a swish with a feeling of immense satisfaction.

TK walked back to the foul line amid the sound of hands clapping. Willis was shaking his head, amused.

"You would think that we're putting on a show," he said as he waited for the ball to be given to him.

But it never was.

"What the hell do you think you guys are doing?"

Another thug forced his way through the crowds and addressed the thugs currently playing on the court. "You worthless bunch of idiots! How are you letting such _faggots_ BEAT the hell out of you?" he yelled. The other thugs shrank back in terror.

Normally, TK would've left such statements alone. He wasn't one for insults.

But today, he felt a little…rebellious.

_Why not? I mean, I've done so many things I normally wouldn't, I might as well keep going._ So he opened his mouth, ready to say the things that would make his life even more difficult.

"Hey, these 'faggots' have a name, you know."

###

Kari was quite surprised when Yolei suddenly stopped running, causing her to crash right into her friend.

"Ow! What was that for?" Kari asked angrily. Yolei pointed to the festering crowd at the basketball courts.

"There's something going on there. Let's check it out!" Yolei dragged Kari by the arm to the court, both of them forgetting that Kari wanted to rip Yolei apart only a few seconds ago.

When Yolei and Kari reached the crowds, they saw Davis' sister, Jun, a junior girl who was infatuated with just about anyone cool, hanging around the outskirts. Yolei decided to ask her what was going on.

"Oh, there's a four-on-two going on between four of Nathan's cronies and Willis with some other blond guy that looked really hot…" Jun said dreamily. Kari rolled her eyes.

"Really, Jun? When are you going to settle for one person?"

"I don't think that'll ever happen," Yolei replied. "C'mon, let's go see what's going on. I want to see if Jun is correct about the guy being hot…"

Yolei and Kari squeezed through the crowds until they finally managed to get to the front and see the action undeterred.

When Kari realized who the 'other blond guy' was, she grabbed Yolei's arm.

"What?"

"That's him." Kari mumbled. She didn't want anyone to hear what she's talking about. "That's the guy I bumped into."

"That's Takeru Takaishi? He IS hot…quite a catch, Kari." Yolei said with a giggle.

"Shut up with that, won't you?"

"All things considered, though, he doesn't look like the evil type…" Yolei frowned in thought.

Kari just shrugged in return and focused her attention onto the game.

She watched Willis throw the ball behind his back and let it soar to TK, who then quickly crossed over his first defender and faked past the second before taking his shot.

_Not bad…that was actually quite well done, actually._ The thought was grudging.

Although she didn't show it too often, Kari was actually well accomplished in basketball, having an older brother to play with every now and then, even though he was more soccer orientated. She didn't like to admit when someone was better at this sport, though. She was proud of her achievements.

**What's this? Kari actually managed to compliment someone on basketball? Maybe you do like him…**

_Ugh…first Yolei, now you too? Damn…_

Kari was about to prepare her argument with her other self when her thoughts were interrupted by a voice in the crowds.

"What the hell do you think you guys are DOING?"

_Oh, it's that idiot Nathan. _Kari noted. _He's almost as bad as Davis…in the dating part. Definitely a lot more annoying overall._

"What do you think are going to happen?" Yolei asked as she grabbed Kari's arm in suspense.

"I honestly don't know," Kari replied as she watched Nathan harass his minions.

"You worthless bunch of idiots! How are you letting such _faggots_ beat the hell out of you?"

_Well, one of them might be a faggot, but not as great a faggot as you._

"Hey, these 'faggots' have a name, you know."

_Oh dear. He's asking for a death sentence…Wait, considering who we're talking about, maybe not._

Nathan turned towards the source of the words.

"Shut your trap, pretty boy, before I shut it for you."

TK forged onwards. "You know, you should treat your subordinates better. There's only so much one person can do."

"I said SHUT UP!"

"Actually, you said, 'shut your trap,' Your Majesty," Willis said as he bowed in mockery.

Nathan grabbed the ball from the hands of one of the thugs. "I'm going to play as well now, and shut your mouths for good."

Willis frowned at that. "You want to overwhelm us with numbers? We can't have that." He scanned the crowds and his eyes landed on Kari.

_Well, I'm on the spot now…_

"We'll take Kari, then." Willis gestured towards her. "Wanna play?"

"…Well, ARE you going to play?" Yolei whispered. Kari shrugged in return.

Nathan took a look at her. "Oh, her." _Damn, he remembers!_ "Fine, but we'll make a deal. One point game. If I win, I get to have this girl as my date."

Kari's eyes widened. "Why don't I get a say in anything these days?" she said with a pout.

Nathan just grinned at her. "Better get used to it. You're going to be my date, after all."

"Don't even think about it," Kari shot back. She was going to stop that from happening if it was the last thing she did.

"Fine," TK agreed. "But… if we win, you have to apologize to each and every one of your minions here… with sincerity, before everyone."

"Hah. The way you talk, it's like you think you have a chance at this," Nathan boasted. "You guys might as well forfeit now and let me date the girl."

"Can we just get started?" Willis asked. "We have three minutes before the doors open."

Nathan chucked the ball to TK, who immediately shoved it to Willis, playing possum at the right corner of the court. Willis fired it from behind the line before any defenders could react.

Unfortunately, the ball flew in and out. TK ran for the rebound, but was suddenly shoved aside. Nathan reached and grabbed the ball as TK tumbled to the floor. The crowd hissed in outrage.

"What? I accidentally bumped him." Nathan exclaimed. He started to dribble the ball back to the three point line.

_Accident my ass._ Kari thought as she blindsided him and stole the ball from his hands. She then charged up for the lay up, or she would've if Nathan didn't grab her left arm, almost toppling Kari from the sudden change of force.

The ball bounced to the end of the court, where Willis popped up again, saving the ball from landing out. He smiled as TK caught the ball at the foul line.

"That, my friend, is what happens when you're not blocking my way!"

"Oh, shut up," TK replied. TK charged up the lane himself for an open lay up, but somehow, he felt himself start to topple, the ball still in his hands as he fell.

_Note to self: check if anyone is sticking their feet out at you._

Without a second thought, TK threw the ball at Kari with his right hand. With his left, he absorbed the fall by setting his palm on the ground, doing a handstand. He flipped forward, right way up again, just in time to set a pick on one of Kari's defenders as she charged up the court again.

Kari's other defender still stood in her path. He stepped up to block her. Kari just spun around past his body and ended up behind him and below the basket. She jumped back then, letting loose her fadeaway as she regained sight of the basket.

_Good. Nothing but net._

The ball landed in the basket.

She walked back to Yolei to retrieve her bag as the hands started clapping.

_And the boys start whistling and saying 'That was so sexy.'_

Sure enough, boys were actually doing that. _I wonder how many people are going to try to ask me on a date this time…_

Nathan stood on the court, sulking. "Hmph, I was going easy on you, 'cause you had a girl on your team."

"Oh, sure. You're being so considerate, trying to get a girl to date you through a basketball game. You care so much for my feelings," Kari retorted, bag in hand.

"You think I care? Ha! This is how much I care!" Nathan snarled, and he promptly spit at Kari's feet.

He immediately felt a pain to the side of his head and heard a basketball bouncing away.

Nathan turned to the culprit, where TK still held that pose of one chucking a mid-sized object. "You know, you should at least treat the opposite gender more courteously. Now why don't you start upholding your end of the deal, hm?"

"Why you - " Nathan cocked back his right fist and charged at TK.

_Oh boy. Nathan doesn't know it yet, but he's going to regret that. _

Yolei was practically dying in a fit of giggles by then. She knew too that attacking a Digidestined was a bad idea unless you knew what you were doing.

TK just weaved right as Nathan's fist met nothing but air and brought his left knee into Nathan's gut.

As Nathan clutched his stomach, TK elbowed him in the back, forcing Nathan to end up sprawled on the floor.

A hush fell upon the crowd. No one, bar Yolei and Kari, was expecting Nathan to go down so easily.

TK planted a single foot on Nathan's back. "Next time, learn how to play with your teammates like a team, instead of resorting to dirty tricks," he hissed. "Now go apologize to them, and get out of my sight." He kicked Nathan in the ribs as the school bell sounded before walking back to get his bag.

Tom and Jason stared at him, wide eyed, as he approached, his bag forgotten on the floor. He picked it up and sighed.

"I told you to take care of my bag, not leave it on the floor," TK murmured.

"No, please, don't beat us up!" they shouted, waving their hands in front of them in fear.

TK laughed.

"I'm not going to beat you up for something like that. Don't worry about it."

Willis sauntered up to him. "Man, you got skill!" He shouted. "Say, have you heard about the school's basketball team? You should totally try out!"

TK smiled at that. "I'll definitely consider it." _Maybe I can get used to moving after all…_

But first, he needed to pay Kari a compliment. Screw the fact that they were enemies. Compliments needed to be paid for feats like that.

###

Yolei was giggling. Kari knew by experience that it was usually a bad sign.

"Hey, what's so funny?" She snapped, hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

Yolei giggled again. "Oi, he's chivalrous too! You are so lucky," she said, and poked Kari.

"Yolei, sometimes I wonder why I even bother being friends with you. Now let's go," Kari muttered.

In their walk back to school, Kari heard TK's voice shouting across the court: "Nice shot there, in the end."

Kari's face heated up. _Why the hell is he complimenting me? It was nothing…and why would he even care?_

Yolei started laughing then. "Oh ho ho! He even complimented you. I guess the feelings are mutual." She pinched Kari's face. "And you look SOOO cute when you're blushing."

"I AM NOT!" Kari screamed back. "Now shut up."

"No."

###

**And...CUT!**

**Technically, this chapter could be considered two chapters. It was definitely long enough for two. I just didn't want to separate them.**

**The plot is really going to start moving around in the next chapter (at least, I think it is...), so stay tuned. And press that Review button for the sake of improvement, won't you?**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

To Jake, lunchtime was not a free period, nor was it full of relaxation and friends.

Much rather, he took lunchtime to talk to his team about recent events, and plan the next move. If it turned out that no such conversation was needed, Jake then just headed to the library, looking carefully for any literature that might be of help to him, whether it was strategy – which he usually left to Ken – or history, which could tell a lot of what someone might do, even psychology and physics, which he preferred to call "the science of hand to hand."

It never bothered Jake that people would always call him strange no matter where he went. Most people never visited the school library even once; it was too quiet there to properly 'hang out.'

The fact that Jake visited the library regularly, when coupled with his habitually silent demeanor, often earned him the label of mental.

_Not that it stops any girls from fawning over me._ _It doesn't seem to bother them that I'm a mental case, I have almost as many fan girls as Matt… I hope I don't look that good…_

Shaking his head to himself, Jake focused his attentions upon walking to the library. There was simply nothing to plan for, unless you counted TK's predicament. But there was really nothing they could do. Whether TK met anyone all went down to luck…or fate.

_Luck, fate, does it really matter?_ _There's really nothing one can do but make the most of it._ Jake laughed humorlessly to himself as he walked along the deserted hallways.

_Besides, TK can handle himself, as I have told Matt countless times already. He'll be fine. I think he will be, and I'm not exactly the most optimistic person._

###

If TK knew what was going on in Jake's head right then, he would've denied it. He certainly didn't feel like he could take care of himself. It was only lunchtime (yes, lunchtime was universally uniform), and things were already as bad as they could get, yet they were still steadily getting worse.

TK sighed. _Why did I give my identity away? Why did I do it? I don't need a guilt trip now of all times!_

He stared down at his bento and shook his head in exasperation. _Either way, I'm hungry. I should eat, and avoid the temptation to find them._

TK was almost certain that this group, like his old friends, would have daily meetings during free periods like lunch to discuss problems that didn't apply to normal life – problems like the Digiworld.

"Hey, is anyone sitting here?"

TK looked up. _Finally, somebody who isn't going to try to observe me or cause me bodily harm. It's nice to have normal friends._

"Use your eyes, Willis. Unless you're blind, in which case I'll have to ask how the heck you play basketball that well."

Willis chuckled at that. "I'm not the one with superpowers here. That guy is the one being rude to my face." He sat down across from TK and placed his tray on the smooth lunch table.

_You have no idea how right you are…_

"Oh, stop flattering me. My skill doesn't qualify me as a supernatural being," TK replied.

Willis laughed again. "Yeah, sure. I guess the gods are even more amazing than I imagined!"

_They probably are. I met the Three Goddesses of Crests once and they could've fried the whole team into bits without sweating. Wait…can they sweat?_

TK sighed. "Dude, why do I have that feeling that students are out to get me? I mean, half of the time, somebody's trying to trip me in the halls."

Willis nodded thoughtfully. "Well, you ARE the one who decided to diss a whole bus full of popular kids, who obviously spread the word around and they're all now out to get you. Although I don't know why some of them did do the things they did."

Willis held up his hand and started counting.

"One, Cody just glanced at you as if he was going to murder you every single time you did something, ranging from you answering the math question the teacher asked to asking him for a pencil. Two, Davis spent the whole basketball game in gym trying to throw the basketball into your head, even though anyone not familiar with the game would think it was a normal pass. Three, I'm pretty sure that I saw Izzy hiding in a corner, videotaping you in the halls while Mimi was bothering you about fashion." Willis stopped ticking them off his hand.

"The only thing is, they're not exactly 'popular.' Cody and Davis are only freshmen, even though I already know their names. Why?" Willis shrugged. "I do things like that. Anyways, Izzy and Mimi are juniors, but they're not very good with 'in' crowds either. So I wonder….Why they would do this to you?"

_I think I know perfectly well why, but I prefer not sharing with you this information._

Normally, such petty actions would not disturb TK. If worst came to worst, he would show the perpetrators exactly what he thought of the actions - using his fists. However, he knew that everything those individuals did to him was his fault.

So he just took it, feeling that guilty that the actions didn't hurt him as bad as they wanted them to.

_Gah…I hate my conscience… In fact, that same conscience is telling me not to lie to Willis about myself so easily…Bah!_

###

"Cody, when we said to try acting civil, glaring at him when he asks for a pencil is not the way to do it."

Kari sighed as Izzy began to lecture Cody on the proper way to observe someone without them suspecting, which apparently did not involving glaring at said person when he reasonably and politely asked you for a pencil.

"It doesn't really matter," she grumbled. "We gave ourselves away almost as quickly as he did."

"WHAT? Are you saying that diversion I made so Izzy could videotape TK was completely useless?" Mimi wailed. "You know, it was so weird talking to him about clothes! And he spent the whole time with a look on his face that practically had the word 'awkward' written all over it!"

"Actually, that would certainly clear up what I got off the computer when I ran the video through it," Izzy pointed out.

"What did you do using your Super Rare Super Special Awesome Chocolate-fudge-coated Mega Super Computer this time?" Davis rolled his eyes.

Izzy didn't say anything, knowing someone would just extract proper vengeance for him. Sure enough, Yolei managed to sneak up behind Davis and smacked him hard in the back of the head, sending him sprawled onto the grass for the second time that day.

"You know, just because you don't use the computer to do anything except watch Yugioh Abridged episodes doesn't mean that it's the only thing computers can do," Yolei admonished.

"But that doesn't mean you had to smack me in order to make your point…" Davis muttered. He joined the rest of the group in crowding around Izzy and his laptop, who was conveniently sitting in the shade of the same oak tree as the morning.

Kari tried to understand what the diagrams and writing the laptop was displaying meant. All she got from it was a headache.

_And that's why I'm not a child prodigy… I need to ask Izzy how the heck he got such a high IQ…then again, maybe not._

"Basically, this program scans the facial and body expression of anybody on a video and tells you the levels of stress they're experiencing. Simply put, the higher the stress, the more they're undergoing heavy thinking, perhaps to lie or to figure out what we're doing," Izzy started explaining.

"However, the really weird thing about this was the person's stress level wasn't exactly high. In fact, it was low to the point where it's obvious that he's not really doing on the spot lying or trying to figure out why some 'enemy' was talking to him. I think that just leaves us with one conclusion," Izzy said as he closed his laptop and put it carefully away in his backpack.

Tai, being the impatient boy he always was, was practically jumping up and down in anticipation. "And that is…?"

Joe rubbed his chin with his hand thoughtfully. "I think I know where this is going…there is no 'infiltration' theory, right? It was all a coincidence."

Izzy nodded. "That's the only thing I could think of. I also hacked into some archives and dug up his history. Nothing seems to be fake. I even know that his mother is real because I met her recently talking to my own mother at work. She mentioned a son named Takeru. I don't think there's any mistaking it."

"That would make sense. These people have to live a normal life too, you know? It's not like they could parade about it all over on Earth. 'Hey, we have superpowers and we use it to do stuff in a digital universe!' That would just land them in an asylum," Sora noted. There was a bunch of nodding and muttering of comprehension.

Kari didn't care too much for that, though. "So…is he an enemy or not? That's the question we need to answer here. Especially since Cody will continue to act like this until told otherwise."

"Well…As of now, I'm not sure. In fact, his actions suggest that he means no harm…at least for now." Izzy scratched his head nervously. "Hey, there's only so much I can do, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand," Kari replied. "It's just all this is so confusing… I mean, a random person who's usually our enemy, just popping out of nowhere and said enemy acting like a … person… I just can't help but be unsure of these people."

Sora shrugged. "Perfectly normal. There's not much you can do about it. Just act nice and caring unless it ends up that he IS an enemy."

Cody huffed. "Man, you guys give out your second chances so easily…"

Yolei glared at him. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with giving the boy a chance. Who knows? Maybe he'll end up being beneficial."

"Beneficial… that's a laugh," Cody muttered.

Joe could only give a helpless shrug.

Tai groaned. _I hate this part of being leader…the "listen to everyone's opinions part." Cody seems so adamant about treating this boy as an enemy. Truthfully, I agree with everyone else that we should give this TK a chance to prove himself, but Cody has a point. We could be giving out these second chances TOO easily… Gah! Which way would be better for us? How could this possibly get any worse?_

Tai's digivice started vibrating. _Screw it, I shouldn't have thought that. I was just inviting a clichéd moment to occur…_

Tai whipped out his digivice from his pocket. His face paled. He stuffed it back into his pocket as soon as everybody else's Digivices started vibrating as well.

"Don't bother," Tai commanded. Nobody dared to argue – Tai as a leader was much different from Tai as a reckless, fun-loving teenager. "The computer lab. Now."

"Hey, what happened? What's going on?" Davis asked as the group ran for the computer lab, which was conveniently situated on the fourth floor.

Tai just shouted without turning back, "A bunch of Digimon infected with Black Gears are attacking Primary Village. If that's destroyed…well…bad things are going to happen."

_But that doesn't make any sense…_ Kari reasoned. _Primary Village was already under the possession of the "Power Rangers" … unless…_

She shook her head. _It doesn't matter. All that matters is the task at hand right now. And that's kicking some butt._

###

TK was enjoying his time hanging around with Willis when his Digivice just had to start vibrating.

Willis was an easy person for TK to be with. He didn't care about things like popularity and background. He took you for what you showed yourself to be at face value. Conversations with Willis were also never boring. They started off talking about basketball after the discussion about the Digidestined (_not that HE knew who they are_), and they had somehow jumped from that to the hostile attitudes of some of the students to the school, and they proceeded to speak of the evolution of humans – and somehow, they'd reached a debate about how the sport of basketball would completely kick soccer's ass.

TK was thinking it through on the soccer side so he and Willis could begin shooting the arguments down, as Willis admitted to not knowing a shred about soccer.

He was just about to present another argument somebody who liked soccer would give when his Digivice started vibrating. Very loudly.

Willis looked at TK's back pocket. "Say, what's that you got there?" he asked.

TK quickly shifted so that his body blocked Willis from the view of that thing. "Oh, it's just my cellphone," he lied.

Willis' eyes narrowed. "Give me a break. Most cellphones don't look like a freakin' walkie-talkie. And none of them are colored green. I bet that's a D-3."

TK froze as he said that. _How does he know the proper name for my Digivice? He's not part of the group that usually goes around fighting the 'Lord' and his minions…_

"Hey, don't get so scared just yet," Willis said as he noticed TK's livid face. "I'm just a guy Gennai kept posted in case I was ever needed." He paused, tilting his head in thought. "As a matter of fact, you wouldn't happen to be one of those people Gennai asked to help, right?"

_So that's why he knew… of course. The old man…_ TK chuckled. "Okay, I'll take your word for it. How's the old man doing?"

TK happened to meet Gennai, the ever-watchful guide of the Digital World, when the said guide decided to confront Jake and the group while they were on a mission for the 'Lord.' By that time, they had already suspected that what they had been doing had detrimental consequences to the world they were running around in, and Gennai proved the speculations to be true.

Gennai had also revealed the existence of the other Digidestined, who were still quite weak, but promising nonetheless, whereupon Jake decided to play possum until they got stronger. Gennai was the only person with connections to the other Digidestined who knew the plan Jake devised, and he had kindly kept it a secret from them.

_Gennai did mention that he stationed some helpers along for us in case our normal lives ever had to clash with theirs… I guess Willis was one of them._

"Well, the old man's been okay. He's still running around and hiding, though at the rate the evil force has been going, he's going to run out of places to hide soon. Still haven't revealed your secret though – it would certainly help sometime around now."

"Eh… not really. It's not safe yet. I prefer it staying the way it is as long as we're still up and running," TK reasoned. "Anyways, I better check what message I got."

TK checked his D-3. "Hm… It's a hologram message. You think anyone around might see it by accident?"

Willis frowned. "I doubt it. Most people are walking around outside by now. You should be reasonably safe here, considering the fact that the cafeteria is practically empty."

"Hm…" TK opened the holographic message.

The screen lit up, creating an image of a humanoid figure dressed in hooded garb. His black bat wings clearly could be seen furled on his back.

_Shit. It's HIM. This can't be good._

"Hello, Takeru," the 'Lord' said. "I must say, you and the group you stick around with all the time have done a splendid job for me over the last few years. And I sincerely applaud you for that."

_I would believe you if you weren't an evil freak. But you are, so I stand corrected._

"However, I've been receiving reports over time about how you all plan to defy me at some point in the future. To test where your loyalties lie, I've decided to send forces to strike Primary Village. I'm sure that that fool, Gennai, has alerted the other group of Digidestined that it's being attacked, and that they're rushing to its aid even as you listen to this."

"Oh, that bastard…" Willis muttered.

"I'll tell you now that although they will be able to take on my strike force with little trouble, they will stand no chance against Devimon, who I have stationed there to make sure to obliterate the Digidestined as soon as they appear. That _was_ one job your group seemed to have trouble completing, after all, so I decided to provide some… ah, assistance."

_Ah, man… We're screwed now._

"So now, I'm giving you this chance. If you are truly loyal to me, you will not bother with this message, and the Digidestined would be defeated by Devimon. However, if your loyalties lie elsewhere, you are certainly welcome to try and take on Devimon yourself, although, at your current strength, you'll be dispatched effortlessly. Go ahead and take your best shot, though. Either way, sayonara, Takeru, and I look forward to your leader's next report," the 'Lord' said smugly, and his image flickered out of sight, signifying the end of the message.

TK put his face into his hands, pushing his blond hair up behind his forehead as he quickly decided his options.

"So…TK, now what are you going to do?" Willis asked. "You're going to try and do something, right?"

TK sighed. _I really have only one option. Damn…_ "Willis, where's the computer lab?"

Willis groaned as he buried his face in his hands. "You are going to try and fight him even though it's already been stated that you would be 'dispatched effortlessly'?"

TK shrugged. "The 'Lord' is probably right if he was based it on his last sighting of my performance. However, I've gotten a bit of a power boost just this morning, so that may be subject to change."

Willis shook his head in defeat. "Fine. Follow me, then."

###

Izzy had never been so befuzzled in his life.

Yes, there was definitely a legitimate strike force rampaging through Primary Village. Poor Elecmon didn't even stand a chance. Sora and Yolei had to treat it immediately when they found the battered body of the red Digimon lying in a heap on top of a giant building block that had been shattered to bits.

But the strange thing was that the strike force did not actually consist of particularily tough opponents. In fact, each Digidestined was able to take on some of them in a two on one, or even single handedly. It didn't make any sense.

_I'm sure that they figured out by now the exact strength of our group, and have plans to act accordingly. So why are they sending a bunch of normal powered Champion level Digimon when they know that we can easily keep up with them? _Izzy broke his train of thought then to dodge the machinegun fire from an Andromon's chest. He rolled out of the way and hid behind another giant building block. _Of course, out of everyone, I have to be fighting the Ultimate level Digimon… Oh well, nobody said I had defeat them to get them to stop._

Izzy sprang up, and using his Beatle Jetpack, hurtled into the air. The Andromon shot two homing missiles from his chest as soon as it caught sight of Izzy. Izzy turned a tight loop as the missiles approached, causing them to come into contact and explode into a giant patch of smoke.

The Andromon looked around, trying to peer through the hazy smokescreen. Little did it know, Izzy had already landed back onto the ground again, trying to find an open shot.

His target? The Black Gear stuck onto the Andromon's right leg.

_If I destroy that, it should free it from the Black Gear's control. The Digimon should then revert back into its old self. I sincerely hope it's a benevolent one, though, because I'll be in trouble otherwise._

Izzy focused on bringing energy to his hands. Purple electricity fizzled around his Stag Helmet and snaked down his arms and to his palms. He held his hands in front of him, waiting for the Andromon to expose the gear.

_That's it… lean a little more… Now!_

Izzy released the energy in his palms. The purple electricity fused into one basketball sized sphere and zeroed in onto the Black Gear, shattering it as the purple ball of electricity hits target.

The Andromon spun around. _Well, this is it._ The Andromon pointed one arm at him. However, instead of doing anything, it spoke.

"Hey, you, did I do this?"

It waved across the grounds, where large building blocks were wooden splinters and the trees filled with toys in flames and ashes.

Izzy nodded. "Yeah, some of it."

"Oh… about that. I didn't mean to." The Andromon put its arm behind its head sheepishly. "I'm really sorry."

Izzy shook his head exasperatedly. "Don't worry about it, you can help rebuild this later."

Izzy sent a message to the other team, relaying his discovery about the Black Gears. "Now can you tell me exactly what this attack is? I need to know what their plan is."

The Andromon shrugged. "I don't know. Sorry, all they did was command us to attack. I do know everyone except Ogremon had a Black Gear attached to it. Ogremon shouldn't do too much damage though – He's only in on this because the higher ups promised to kill Leomon later, and they hate each other. However, Ogremon has no desire to hurt anyone else, so he's probably going easy on this place."

Izzy scratched his head. _Well, that's nice… the whole attack consists mostly of Digimon who are doing this against their will… but what if we destroy all the gears? There certainly must be somebody ready to do cleanup in case all else fails… which means…_

A picture of a certain lean, shadowy individual crossed Izzy's mind. _Oh, shit…_

###

Kari was busy jumping from place to place, helping everyone else destroy the Black Gears on the Digimon. The team had begun this act as soon as Izzy had informed them that destroying the Black Gears would return the Digimons to their benevolent selves. Joe had mercifully knocked Ogremon, the only one without a Black Gear, unconscious with his Viking Hammer by hitting him hard in the head from behind while Ogremon was busy distracted by Mimi's bashing from her Cactus Gloves.

Kari was now handling the last Digimon with Tai, Davis, and Yolei. The poor Leomon was equipped with seven Black Gears. That caused him to be mutated into a more powerful (and of course, hideous) form… which was why the four of them were being tossed around like rag dolls.

Kari growled. _It's just not safe to run in and attack the gears… One direct hit would probably send us flying._ She ducked as another fist flew above her, whishing by her hair. She jumped back before another fist pounded the ground where she was standing only half a second ago into smithereens.

Tai and Davis, two of the more resilient members of the team, were also afraid of the flying fists that were swinging around. Tai rolled away from a strike by the mutated Leomon that completely destroyed the tree behind Tai.

"So this is what facing Chuck Norris' roundhouse kick would be like…" he muttered as he sidestepped another punch from the Digimon.

Davis just couldn't resist yelling, "No, this situation would never be as bad as Chuck Norris!" before Leomon's fist connected with Davis during his momentary distraction. Davis flew into a tree like a human missile and tumbled back down to the floor.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Davis yelled as he scrambled back up before he had to taste the power of Leomon's fist again.

"Good, you moron, now stop talking and help Yolei get in a good shot at the gears!" Kari retorted, her eyes on the flying fists around her as she steeled herself to prevent the what Davis was unfortunate enough to experience. _That punch sent him twenty feet… and Davis showed no signs of stopping. If it wasn't for the tree…_

"Mach Impulse!"

A missile of air whizzed by and hit Leomon right at the thighs, destroying one of the Black Gears on the Digimon. Leomon started whirling around to look for the source. Kari felt eternally grateful then that Yolei was hiding among the trees, firing only when she got a good shot.

_Now's my chance! He'll stay distracted for a little while he doesn't know Yolei is hiding among the trees!_

With that thought in mind, Kari rushed at Leomon. She swiped at one gear with her left claw glove, destroying it.

Leomon started turning around.

Kari used her other arm to destroy the one at the small of his back

The Digimon saw the girl swiping at her. He roared.

Kari swept both her arms and slashed at the gears on Leomon's legs.

Leomon cocked one fist back. Tai, seeing this, started yelling, "Fall back, Kari! Retreat!"

Kari heard her brother screaming something, but she didn't bother to listen. She jumped, hitting the one on the back of Leomon's head.

_Yolei hit one, and I got five. That's six. Where's the last one?_

Kari spotted it on Leomon's chest. _There it is!_ Then she saw the fist flying towards her.

_So much for finding it… I'm screwed now._

Leomon's fist crashed into Kari's body, sending her hurtling through the air like a rag doll. She could not tell which way was up and which was down; her body was spinning around too fast. So she did the only thing she could. She closed her eyes and hoped fervently that her head didn't hit something hard.

###

"Kari!"

Tai was all but willing to chase after his sister's flying body as she disappeared into the foliage. Davis grabbed his shoulder and hauled him back to reality.

"Hey, dude, let's take this guy down first, then worry about her, alright?" Davis said. "Kari wouldn't be too happy if you save her instead of taking care of our animal problem. She'll be complaining about how she could take care of herself just fine for the rest of the day. And I don't think any of us want that."

Tai growled. "Fine. Let's get this over with, then." He hefted his battle ax up again.

"We'll launch a double fire attack. I'll use my Fire Wall; you use your Flame Fist. These attacks shouldn't do anything damage-wise to Leomon, but it should provide a lot of smoke cover that'll give us time to hide. Once it dissipates, he'll look around for us, giving Yolei the shot she needs to end this." Tai quickly relayed this to Davis.

Davis nodded in agreement. A red aura began to form along the blade of his Flamberge Bracelet (look up Elemental Hero Bladedge – It should look something of the sort like that). A similar orange aura appeared on the blades of Tai's Tyranno Axe. Leomon turned back at them, his every movement showing his desire to pound the two boys into crumbs.

Tai swung his axe in a wide horizontal arc, creating a giant veil of axe. Davis made a punching motion, the red aura released from the blade turning into fireballs. The fireballs easily overtook the veil of flames and hit Leomon, creating plumes of smoke. The veil scored a hit as well, covering Leomon's whole body in a curtain of smoke.

Tai and Davis scrambled into the cover of the trees as the smoke began to dissipate. Leomon looked around as the haze cleared and saw… nothing. There was nothing but the gentle swaying of flora and the whistle of a breeze. He started twisting and turning, confused.

Yolei, sitting in a tree above Leomon's head, smiled. There was no way she could miss something like that. She brought up her Avian Longbow and created an arrow of energy, drawing back the bowstring with it.

"Ready… aim…"

###

Kari felt the impact as she finally fell back to earth. She kept her eyes closed, spinning and tumbling through the soil packed earth until she finally came to a stop. Her body ached all over, but she ignored the pain. _It's not like I can do anything about it until I see Sora or Yolei, after all._

She felt the ground at her back, so she knew she was facing the sky. Knowing that, she opened her eyes, expecting to see the green coverings on top of trees staring back down at her.

What she did not expect to see was a sea of darkness, empty save for two eye-like spots of red that seemed to peer down at her malevolently. Kari shuddered as she realized those spots were eyes.

She looked up a bit, and saw grey skin with a frown on it.

_Wait, frowns aren't on the top of the head. It's an upside down face. _

And it was the upside down face of someone she knew all too well.

"Well, well, I guess you found me. Don't worry, though, little girl. The rest of them will find me soon enough. Now, if they'll find you… that, I cannot say."


	8. Chapter 8

**IQman2000: I know, why the hell am I updating so late into the night? To tell you the truth, I sent it out this morning at 9:00 AM, but my editor decided to be lazy and didn't return it until 5:30. Then, I had to watch a very funny conversation unfold on the social network because it was really THAT funny, and I had problems uplaoding the document until 9:00 PM. SO 12 hrs after I sent it to my editor, I'm finally going to update this. -.-"**

**DreamBeliever: YOU'RE the one who rushed the story (again) and ended up having a couple hundred tense problems in your story. It takes time to fix all of them, you know.**

**IQman2000: Did I ask you to say that? No. Now say the disclaimer, meddlesome editor.**

**DramBeliever: Y U HAVE NO LUV?**

**IQman2000: Just say the disclaimer.**

**DreamBeliever: Fine... IQman2000 does not own Digimon. He does own all the blame for this late update.**

**IQman2000: I TOLD you to STOP SAYING THAT!**

**DreamBeliever: :P**

Chapter 8

Jake decided that he deserved a break from all the serious crap he usually read during his free time. In lieu of said serious crap, he turned to the science fiction section.

He had always found it interesting how other people envisioned the future would unfold, especially with the future technology.

_The way they describe it, the future could be pretty grim…It's too bad most people don't bother listening to what these stories are trying to tell them. Take Fahrenheit 451, for example. It practically warned us what would happen if we should be too enamored with TV and the like, but nobody today really seems to care. _

Jake walked along the quiet aisle of shelves, taking quick glances at the spines of the novels. He finally decided on one, wrestling it off the shelves.

"The Lab… Jack Heath. Interesting," Jake muttered. He turned to the back of the book and read the short blurb on it.

_Six of Hearts reminds me of TK…both of them try to hide themselves from everyone else, but TK does it with a cheery face, not by isolating any and all human emotion. Either way, this might actually be worth my time._

Jake pried open the book and began flipping the pages with his long, slender fingers. His eyes started flickering left and right with such speed that they looked blurred. Jake blocked out all distractions that might have stopped him from enjoying the book to the fullest.

All distractions, that is, except for one: His Digivice started vibrating.

_Out of all the distractions in the world, why must it be the one I cannot ignore? This book was getting interesting, too…wait, why am I whining to myself, and in my head, no less?_

Jake checked around for any possible outsiders. Seeing none, he slipped his hand into his pocket and took out his Digivice.

**Live Message from "The One." Answer?**

_Oh, it's him. I wonder what he wants now…_

Jake pressed a button, accepting the request for a live conversation. The familiar, soft and low voice came over the speakers.

"Hello, Jake. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"It was only a couple of days, Lord." Jake sighed. "What do you want from us? It better be good, my team is exhausted."

"How would you know that? It is not as if your whole team is present. I believe there is one vacancy."

Jake's throat tightened. _What the…?_

He swallowed with difficulty before gasping out, "How do you…?"

Quiet chuckling was all that could be heard from the speakers. "When you have so much control over the Digital World, you can access data that transverses through it with relative ease. The cameras in TK's new school proved particularly useful, might I add."

_Don't tell me he called just to talk about this._

"Lord, what exactly are you trying to say? TK can take care of himself. He'll be fine. It's not his fault that he ended up farther from us than usual. Besides, it doesn't matter as long as he has access to a computer, right? So what's wrong with TK being separated from everyone else?"

"Nothing, truly. It is just that this separation made my plan much more conceivable."

"Plan? What did you come with this time?" Jake grumbled. _To tell you the truth, I don't like where this is going…_

"I sent some Digimon recruited by Devimon into his army to attack Primary Village. An act like that would certainly prompt a response from the Digidestined, don't you agree? However, a response from the Digidestined was not what I sought. The attack was to determine exactly where the loyalty of your team lies."

"What do you mean? I don't see how our devotion to you and this matter has any similar point," Jake reasoned. _Actually, there could possibly be ONE…oh, shit…_

"Oh, but there is. Perhaps I haven't mentioned it yet. Did you know exactly where TK is going to school?" the voice taunted. "It's funny, really, that he should end up smack dab in enemy territory."

Jake's face paled. _Shit! And now the pieces fall into place…_

"I think the pieces fit in now. After all, you're not a dumb being. Actually, you are one of the brightest members in my organization that I've ever seen," the voice continued to goad Jake. "Surely it must be obvious by now…"

The gears in Jake's head were turning furiously. _Damn it. I don't know how we even got into this. Man, was he always one step, two steps, maybe even ten steps ahead of us, all this time?_

"TK… You think his actions represent the fundamental ideas of my team?" Jake drew out, trying to buy his mind some time.

"Exactly. TK is a mirror of your team. He is the epitome of what your group is trying to accomplish. I gave him a choice." The voice paused.

_Why do I have the feeling that I have just been played…?_

"… what are you trying to say here?" Jake asked. _Ok, this is bad. I can't even stall anymore, because time in the Digital World and Earth is different. I might be here for ten minutes, but anywhere between thirty minutes and ten hours might've passed in the Digiworld! Stupid fluctuating time system._

"The Digidestined would certainly be able to handle the strike force I sent to Primary Village. However, I doubt they would be able to handle the master of that army himself, even if they worked together. Devimon is quite strong for a Champion level Digimon."  
>"So you sent a message to TK, telling him of this plan. You gave him two choices. One: to ignore everything, and let the Digidestined be slaughtered. Two: to go ahead and attempt to defeat Devimon, even though we all know he's not at that level yet."<p>

_And if that is what happened…Damn it, we have to move out! But I can't…not yet. Not while I'm talking to this moron._

"That's right. Jake. But there's more," the Lord whispered, his already soft voice now so quiet that Jake, even with his heightened senses, had to strain his ears to hear.

"I've also posted backups, in case Devimon fails…because TK might turn into the Champion level and give Devimon a run for his money. Should Devimon be defeated, Etemon and Myotismon will be waiting in the wings for their cleanup job."

Jake's eyes widened. _Scratch what I thought. He's at least TWENTY steps ahead of me… oh, shit…_

"You seem speechless. Why is that?" the voice questioned innocently. But Jake knew better. He knew that the whole time, the yellow eyes immersed in the blackness of the hood were narrowed with suspicion. And it was all for him.

"I'm just wondering if all this was necessary…I mean, it's not like you have to send so many minions just to get rid of a group of nuisances."

"Don't worry about it. I have plenty of others who are even more powerful than the one I have sent, after all. Besides, you have nothing to worry about, unless, of course, TK does go in after Devimon, in which case…your team will be in for a world of hurt. I bid you good day and I look forward to our next meeting."

**Connection has been lost. Attempt to send back call?**

Jake quickly denied the request and opened up a message window. He quickly patched up a message to everyone else before shoving his Digivice back into his pocket. He walked quickly down the aisle and towards the library exit, setting the book on a table as he did so. He prepared himself for a full speed sprint to the computer lab as soon as he reached the hallway.

_Six was right. It's time to leave._

**###**

Kari felt a lot of things. She felt pain in her battles. She felt pride when a goal was accomplished. She felt humiliation when she thought over exactly how much they lost to the evil every day. She felt the adrenaline spark that pushed her body to the limit and allowed her to end up victorious in the end.

But there was something she never experienced until she ended up on the floor, staring up at the upside-down face of one of the most powerful and malicious beings she had ever met.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Kari immediately jackknifed back onto her feet and bounded away. She vaulted over with one hand and twisted so that she faced the being by the time she landed on the back onto the hard-packed soil.

Said being had an amused look on his midnight colored face. "No need to seem so surprised, little Digidestined. You have met me, after all. Don't tell me you haven't forgotten who I am already."

Devimon began walking leisurely towards Kari, flexing his long, thin, sharp hands as he did so.

"Of course, if you have forgotten, I guess I'll just have to leave a bigger impression," Devimon mused. "Unfortunately, as I have said before, I cannot say you would stick around long enough to remember."

Kari's mind was in turmoil. She took one step back, then another, as Devimon continue to meander slowly towards her.

"What's wrong? Afraid of me? You know, it's sad, really. You aim to destroy the evil, and yet you're letting yourself be consumed by it. You're pathetic."

Kari growled. Her pride began to override the swirling feelings in her brain.

"SHUT…THE…HELL…UP!" She screamed. She rushed at him, her Lightning Paws outstretched and ready to slash out.

Devimon only raised an eyebrow at the advance. He coolly watched as Kari suddenly disappeared, before popping out from under him with an uppercut. He took a lazy step backwards, watching as Kari's claws whoosh past his face.

Kari's body continued to sail up. Level with Devimon's face, she quickly twisted her body, sending a snap kick towards Devimon's face. Her right foot whished straight for its target.

Kari yelled out in pain and shock as Devimon grabbed her ankle a mere half an inch before her foot reached his face, piercing it with his sharp clawed fingers. Showing absolutely no change in expression, he proceeded to fling Kari away from him. Kari flew straight into a tree, causing the trunk to break upon contact.

The tree, with Kari lying on top of it, fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

Kari tried to stave off the blackness trying to engulf her vision. The feeling that she managed repress came back to her in full force. It filled her, causing her mind to go into a panic.

Kari had never felt it before, but it always came. It never failed to miss any one person. That feeling now came for Kari.

For the first time ever, what Kari felt coursing through her veins was fear.

**###**

"This is the computer lab?"

TK was panting slightly from the sprint he put up after he and Willis sped towards the schools' computer lab. Willis could only nod as he leaned on a wall with his left hand, breathing heavily.

TK gave an exasperated sigh. "Why must the computer lab be located on the fourth floor?" He took out his D-3 and prepared to open up a portal into the world. "Hey, Willis, aren't you coming?"

Willis shook his head. "I can't. I'm still a regular human being. I only stumbled upon the Digital World by accident. That's why Gennai recruited me. Unfortunately, I don't really have any powers, like you guys." He motioned his head towards the portal. "Now go, they're probably getting their asses whipped."

TK nodded. He jumped into the portal, hearing Willis' words of farewell as he shot through the door between the two worlds.

"You know, I can't believe how right I was when I said you have superpowers."

_I know, right? I can't either._

**###**

Jake skidded to his homeroom. He would much rather prefer a computer lab, but he knew that it was occupied by a class right now. It would make little sense to jump into an interdimensional portal while a bunch of perfectly sane human beings were watching.

_Well, actually, many of them are actually insane, but whatever._

Lily and Matt were already there, waiting for him. The teacher was, thankfully, out of sight. Matt was already frantic with worry. "Come on, where are Ken and Athena? Can't we go already?"

Jake shook his head as he began to open up a portal with his Digivice. "Ken's probably not coming. He has to stay for soccer practice and there's no way they'll let him leave for a seemingly crackpot reason like ours. Athena, she should be coming right about…now." He finished as Athena popped into the room.

"Sorry! I had to slip by that strict lunch lady outside. She wouldn't let me in!"

"Don't worry about it. You came on time anyways," Lily dryly noted. Matt only growled in response.

"Come on. Let's go," Jake said. One by one, each of them jumped into the portal. It closed as Jake's hand disappeared, having jumped last.

_I only hope that we get there soon enough._

**###**

Kari wasn't a genius. Even she would admit that. She would even say she was not even that smart, though other people would point to her grades and say otherwise. However, she wasn't so dumb that she wouldn't know when she was royally screwed – like in that very instant.

Kari growled as she rolled off the tree and landed on the ground. She glanced back at Devimon, who was just standing there, his arms crossed.

"How sad. I really expected more from the Child of Light. Oh well, it's alright. I guess I'll have to settle for torture and kill all of you slowly." Devimon flexed his fingers in anticipation.

Kari felt rage boil into her very being again. She hated being referred to as the Child of Light. She was a little ashamed of it, but she hated how she was always being noted by the title she carries. _I'm just a KID! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OF ME?_

Devimon seemed to know what was going on in her mind. "It's really too bad you can't live up to other's expectations, isn't it? You try to act tough, but you're just a child in the end."

"SHUT…UP!" Kari prepared to charge again, but Devimon suddenly popped up right in front of her. The next thing she knew, she was up thrashing in the air while Digimon held her neck up with one of his hands. He peered into Kari's angry eyes, causing her eyes to turn into a dark shade of magenta.

"My, my. Such a feisty one. I must admit, you had potential. What a shame." Devimon tightened his grip on Kari's neck, forcing her to strain for breath.

"KARI!"

Devimon flung Kari to the base of the broken tree and flew off as a purple ball of electricity exploded where he was standing just moments ago. Izzy touched down on the ground with his jetpack as Sora, Joe, and Mimi all caught onto him, panting due to the fact that had to keep up on foot.

"Izzy, next time, just go on by yourself…I mean, we can catch up later, you know. And we wouldn't hold you back," Sora wheezed.

"I doubt that. Izzy can only stall against _him_ for about three minutes. Not enough time for us," Joe muttered. "It's best that we're all here now."

"Well, well, well. At least you seemed to remember who I was. I guess I don't need to make any cordial gestures before I can annihilate all of you."

"Oh, no need," Mimi dismissed. "There's no point of undergoing such stupid rituals if you're going to kill us anyway." There was an awkward silence after that. Izzy facepalmed, Sora shook her head in exasperation, and Joe took of his glasses, polished them, and put it back on his face. Devimon just watched the whole ordeal with a raised eyebrow.

"So, now that your comedic act is over, I can get started now, right?"

"Sure, go ahead. Knock yourself out!" Sora rolled her eyes as she prepared her Flame Fans for combat. "Actually, go do that. It'll save us some trouble."

"Humans…I don't understand them," Devimon muttered as the four Digidestined charged. Kari was struggling to get up at the base of the tree, forgotten.

_Damn it, now I'm just a burden…_

She watched the fight as she tried to stand up. Mimi threw a right hook at Devimon, but the latter simply leaned away from the blow as it swished harmlessly past his chest. Mimi followed up with a left punch to the jaw, her glove only a blur of red to the normal viewer.

Devimon ducked and the blow flew over his head. He reached up with one hand and caught Mimi's wrist. He then pulled Mimi towards him, blasting her back with a punch charged with dark energy to the stomach. Mimi shot into the bushes.

"Meteor Wing!"

Devimon whirled around to the source of the voice. His eyebrows rose as he saw two giant fan-shaped curtains of fire heading right for him, a determined Sora behind them. He jumped high into the air and spread out his wings, flying over the curtains.

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

Devimon stretched his arm behind him and launched a ball of black energy at the incoming missile that fired off Joe's Horn Hammer (you know, a hammer with a pointed edge at the end instead of pliers…man, I'm bad at this.) Devimon glanced back down at the floor.

"Are you done yet? If you are, it's my turn."

"Electro Shocker!"

Devimon whirled around again. This time, he was only fast enough to see a blur holding a large, purple ball of electricity before that same purple ball made direct contact with him, causing a giant cloud of smoke.

Izzy spiraled down from that cloud, flipping head over heels before landing with a thud on the floor. He dusted himself off as he headed towards the bush where Mimi was still lying.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. It worked, right?" Mimi said as she picked herself off the ground.

"Mimi, I wonder if you have a shred of logic in that brain of yours. Something like that isn't going to finish Devimon off, I'm afraid."

"Logic? Who needs logic?" Mimi sang out.

"Not you, apparently…" Izzy noted as he facepalmed.

"Um, guys, I'll hate to break up this nice little discussion, but…our friend is back on air," Joe noted.

Devimon was still very much alive and well as he circled through the air, applauding their efforts.

"Oh, bravo. I did not expect you to land any hits, especially not one of that kind. I'm impressed. You people have certainly gotten stronger."

_You bet we have,_ Kari thought as she continued to attempt standing up. Sora was by her side by then, healing her patient with her Crest's power while the others were talking.

By the time Devimon complimented their attempt, Sora had stopped channeling her energy to her fingers. She got up as the red aura from her fingers went away. Kari was now back into fighting condition again, and the first thing she wanted to do now was bash a certain somebody's head in.

"Kari? KARI? Where are you?" Tai's voice suddenly echoed across the clearing.

"I should be asking that question, nii-san!" Kari hollered back. "We have a huge problem here!"

"Kari! You ARE alive!" Tai rushed towards his sister and started to hug her. Kari rolled her eyes, but hugged back. She glared at Davis when he came up, wanting a hug as well.

_Don't even think about it._ She then glared at Yolei, who was laughing at her misfortune. _And Yolei, you're going to regret doing all this once I find something to talk about…_

"So…can I continue now?" Devimon lazily asked as he dropped out of the sky. Devimon's feet touched the earth as he surveyed the area, studying each and every adversary. "Hm…who to kill first?"

"Gold Rush!"

Devimon didn't even bother turning this time. He just sent out a pulse of dark energy, blowing up the two drill torpedoes that was fired straight at him. He spun around then and gave Cody a roundhouse kick to the stomach as Cody popped out of the trees above in a surprise attack, his Drill Lance pointed straight at Devimon's chest. Cody stopped moving forward as the kick hit him and he just fell straight down from the air. Devimon took the opportunity to uppercut him straight in the stomach, sending Cody rocketing up into the trees.

Kari could only watch helplessly as Cody fell back down with a sickening THUD. He did not get back up. _Does this guy have eyes in the back of his head or something? How the hell can he just predict all of these attacks?_

Devimon looked at the rest of the group now. "Alright, there's one. Now, for the rest of you." Everybody readied themselves as he charged towards them.

**###**

TK shot out of the portal. He flipped end over end to his feet as he touched the ground. He looked around his surroundings, horrified by the amount of destruction.

_What the hell…? What happened? It was that bad?_

"We're really sorry for all this inconvenience, though."

"Now, now, don't worry about it. You guys were brainwashed. Besides, I don't hold grudges. Just make sure to help me rebuild this place when it's all over, it looks like crap."

TK turned towards where the commotion was coming from. It turned out a Monzaemon, an Andromon, and an Ogremon were apologizing repeatedly for the destruction they caused because of the Black Gears, while Elecmon waas telling them it was all alright. Well, at least the Monzaemon and Andromon were apologizing for brainwashed actions. Ogremon was more of apologizing for being selfish. Etemon was lecturing him about it while he started to approach them.

"Now, Ogremon, I know you and Leomon hate each other, but there's no need to do THIS to get him killed." Etemon was saying. "I don't approve of this, but if you guys have to, go to some deserted area and duke it out or something. Don't work with these evil fools. It's a bad idea. Unless you're a professional like that chap over there." Elecmon nodded towards TK. The other three turned an noticed him well.

"Say, Light Green, why aren't you wearing your suit today?" Ogremon asked gruffly.

TK sighed. "I'm forced to resign my 'profession', to tell you the truth. We're going to have to blow our cover today."

Andromon nodded grimly. "This was expected. You really didn't have much longer. But my I inquire why you and your group must do so?"

"The 'Lord' pretty much played us using the other Digidestined as bait. Can we go with that?" TK said. "Can you tell me where the other Digidestined are, by the way?"

The Monzaemon shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just a teddy bear. Last I saw one of them was when I apologized to that nice girl with the boxing gloves…"

"Sorry, I couldn't remember anything after that guy with glasses bonked me over the head with a hammer."

"The last time I saw one of them was about 15 minutes ago. I have not seen any one of them after that."

"Hey, I only saw them after Sora and Yolei healed me. You guys really DID do a number on me, you know…"

"We're sorry…"

TK left them alone and tried to figure out where exactly they could have gone. Before he could thoroughly ponder about this, though, Patamon, a good friend of TK's shot out of the bushes.

"Elecmon! Elecmon! I have bad news!" Patamon screeched. TK could immediately guess what that was.

"The Digidestined are fighting Devimon, aren't they? And they're losing bad." TK said softly.

"Eh? How did you know, TK? And why aren't you wearing your costume?" Patamon wondered.

"I don't need it anymore." TK replied in a quiet tone. Patamon knew what he was trying to say then.

"You mean…?"

"Yeah." TK materialized his very new gauntlets. "Lead me there, please. It's time for my first serious fight."

**###**

_There's no plan for this. This is just slaughter._

That was going through Izzy's mind as he tried to fight against Devimon. Unfortunately, Devimon kept popping up in unexpected locations to harass them. Mimi and Joe were already down as they tried to trap Devimon with an attack from both side. Devimon just rolled away at the last second, resulting in Mimi knocking out Joe with a sharp hook in the face. Joe bonked Mimi in the head with his hammer at the same time, leaving two members unconscious.

Davis actually managed to present a nuisance to Devimon. In fact, while he was wearing his Electroedge Bracelet, Davis was actually able to move fast enough to be able to dodge a few of Devimon's attacks. The way he was taken down, though, might've been funny if it wasn't for the situation they were in.

Davis grabbed Devimon's arm when the latter went for another swipe with his hands.

"I'm actually going to do something!"

Davis proceeded to throw Devimon over his shoulder while he says, "My voice gives me super strength!" Devimon actually flew a good 6 feet before hitting the ground.

Devimon got up from his fall and replied, "Yes, but my hair gives me the power to defy gravity!" as he jumps into a flying kick at Davis.

Davis managed to utter, "Oh, the humanity!" as Devimon's foot connected with hit skull. Davis fell to the floor sliently, his head bleeding slightly.

Devimon was then forced to fly off as another one of Yolei's Mach Impulses almost impales him in the head.

"Davis, I can't believe out of all the ways you went down, you had to go down while following the script to Yugioh Abridged! How obsessed are you?" Yolei shouted as she let another arrow fly at Devimon.

"Actually, I just said my line because I thought it would make things more entertaining. Being part of the Digital World has its perks, sometimes."

Yolei froze as she heard the voice behind her. She felt herself get lifted into the air as Devimon bodily lifted her and threw her. Yolei crashed through half a dozen trees before she finally stopped moving.

Izzy felt like he had a headache. _Great, we have about 4 people left standing. Sora…well, not my best choice for long range combat, but it'll do. Tai and Kari are great frontliners. I don't have much, but it'll have to do…_

"Tai, Kari! Go attack Devimon head-on! Sora and I will back you up!"

"Oh, what's this? A plan? How amusing…" Devimon cackled as the brother/sister pair charged. He dodged the fast strike from Kari's right paw and ducked under Tai's battle axe as he swung it like bat. Devimon fired a sphere of dark energy from each palm at the floor, causing the three people to be covered in smoke.

Sora, prepared to fire her projectile attack, was trying to peer through the smokescreen.

"Don't bother, I'm over here…" A voice whispered. Sora's eyes widen as she felt an intense pain come to her right shoulder. Devimon smiled with extreme smugness as she fell to the floor, her right shoulder having a sizable hole in it.

"Let's see you try to heal THAT." Devimon chuckled as the smoke screen cleared. Izzy's eyes widened.

_This sucks! There's literally almost nothing we can do…Don't tell me our story actually ends here…_

"You know, you're pretty smart. It's too bad you're not working on our side…Oh, well, I have to take care of you. You ARE a nuisance." Said a voice next to his ears.

Izzy felt an excruciating pain on his back. Devimon smiled as he kicked Izzy down, the latter's shirt ripped into tattered strips in the back, his back now covered in three long, deep cuts. Izzy laid on the floor, trying not to black out from the pain.

_Well…maybe it DOES end here…_

**###**

Kari couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. It just couldn't be true. How did all of her friends go down so fast? Now it was just her and her brother left. What could the two of them do?

"No, you will not hurt any more innocents."

_That voice…I heard it from somewhere…_

A humanoid lion jumped down from the trees, blocking Devmon from his path to Kari and Tai.

"Ah, Leomon, they beat you? I guess I'll just have to brainwash you again…" Devimon sighed.

"I disagree." Leomon rumbled. Now free of the control of the Black Gears, he could fight back against his (ex?) master. He brought one fist straight towards Devimon's body, forcing the latter to jump out of the way. The tree behind Devimon was reduced to dust as Leomon's fist connected into it. Devimon flipped over Leomon, spinning so that he faced Leomon's back. He charged one hand with dark energy.

"I much rather just kill you, to tell you the truth." Daemon noted as he brought his fist into Leomon's back. Though Devimon was dwarfed by the humanoid lion, Leomon still howled in pain. Leomon fell with an earth rumbling thud as Devimon turned back towards Tai and Kari.

"Now, where as I…Oh, yes, finishing you two off. The leader and the beacon. This should be a treat." Devimon cackled.

Tai raised his Tyranno Axe. "You go through me before touching my nii-chan."

Devimon just raised an eyebrow at that. "So be it."

"Don't worry about me, nii-san. I can take care of myself."

"Fine. Just don't get hurt."

_How am I supposed to promise something like that?_

The brother and sister charged Devimon again. Devimon sighed, and as Tai swung his flame coated axe, Devimon just sidestepped it, leaving Tai out of balance and easy picking for Devimon's blasts.

Tai was blown back into a bush. Kari tried to make the most of Devimon's ignorance to her and tried to slash at his chest, only to be lifted up by the neck again.

"And so we are. This is where we left off, hm?" Devimon's eyes bored into Kari's, red meeting magenta.

"No…way…am…I…giving…up…yet…" Kari choked out. Devimon shrugged.

"Whatever you want, little girl. After all, there's no one left to save you. I have already taken care of all of them…" Devimon smiled. "This really is the end…for all of you."

Kari could feel the darkness surround her vision. She sighed with what breath she had left.

_Well…that's it. We lost. There's nothing we can do about it. I'm sorry…I was just too weak…_

**###**

Patamon zipped along ahead, up in the trees. Below him, TK was keeping pace, sprinting as fast as he could to the battle scene.

"No!" Patamon wailed.

"What happened?" TK started to worry. _Am I too late…?_

"There's bodies everywhere!" Patamon dropped from the tree and began to fly around TK's head. "They're all down…what are we going to do?"

By then, TK and Patamon have reached the fight scene.

"Sh, Patamon." TK whispered. He pointed to the distance, where a tall, lean, black-colored individual was holding up another person by what seems to be his or her neck. "They aren't all down yet…not that it's much better…but at least we got something to work with…"

Patamon immediately quieted down. TK sneaked through the foliage, trying to get closer to the two people.

"Whatever you want, little girl." _That voice, it's definitely Devimon. And based on the hair color and gender, I bet that's Kari._ "After all there's no on left to save you. I have already taken care of all of them…" _What, he doesn't know about me? Or maybe he just doesn't want to say anything…either way, I should definitely go for a surprise attack._ TK's fist started to glow with that yellow energy again, the one he went through in the morning.

"This really is the end…for all of you." Devimon's grip began to tighten on Kari's neck.

_Dammit…she's giving up…I'll have to act now! But this attack isn't strong enough yet…_

But TK didn't have a choice. He was standing at the fork already. And he already made up his mind which direction he's taking.

He jumped out of his cover and released his blast.

**###**

Kari felt the pressure ease from her neck. She felt herself being dropped to the floor once again. She coughed and sputtered, trying to recover from her lack of oxygen.

"So…you've made your decision, haven't you?" Devimon hissed.

Kari heard another person sigh. "Can we save the traitor speeches for later? Or do I really have to compose one off the top of my head right now?"

_Oh dear…it can't really be him, can it?_

She looked towards where the voice came from. Her vision was still blurry from her ordeal, but she could very clearly see the blonde mess of a haircut a certain person she met today had.

_Well, he just shut the case on his on coffin about being the enemy. But why is he betraying them? Is it just a ploy? I don't know…I don't see the point. Devimon could just finish all of us right now and no one would be the wiser. So what's his purpose for betrayal? Well…I guess it doesn't matter just yet. I doubt even he could keep up with Devimon, so we're screwed anyways…_

"Hmph, I'll be sympathetic and let you slide past the speech. It's a small token of gratitude for not wearing that ridiculous outfit anymore."

"Gee, thanks. I'll make sure to do this more often when we meet."

Devimon unfurled his wings and shot into the air. "No need. I doubt we'll ever meet again, TK."

_There's my confirmation._

TK stood there, looking calmly back up at his airborne adversary. "I agree, although I think my situation is a little different from yours."

Kari finally managed to regain control of her breathing. She shouted, "TK, don't do it? Just run! You can't fight him by yourself! I don't care how much stronger you are compared to…"

TK sighed. "Compared to you? Yeah, I know. I probably won't get out of this alive. But this is one fight I have to go through myself."

Kari opened her mouth to speak again, but TK cut across her.

"Don't say anymore. Also, don't try to interfere. Try to tend to all the fallen. If you can heal, make sure to try your best to get everyone up and running again." TK continued to keep an eye on Devimon as he spoke.

_Why? Why are you doing this?_

"Didn't I ask you not to open your mouth?"

Kari realized she shouted out exactly what was going through her mind.

"I'm doing this…" TK continued softly. "…because it's the right thing to do."

"Ho, ho, how sentimental," Devimon called from above. "Now can we get this started already? I enjoyed my little warm-up, but it's time for a real fight."

"Sure. I'm looking forward to this too." TK smiled. "Let's get started."

**###**

**IQman2000: Yes, I get it. Another cliffhanger. I'm evil. Just letting you know, it was my editor's idea.**

**DreamBeliever: Your fault for listening to me. This chapter was so lame, too.**

**IQman2000: Did I just hear that?**

**DreamBeliever: The fight scenes made no sense. What kind of people hug in a middle of a fight?**

**IQman2000: Hey, they did crap like that in DBZ, nothing happened to THEM!**

**DreamBeliever: (ignoring IQman) And the "Lord" wasn't smooth talking enough. Everyone knows villains are smooth talking.**

**IQman2000: I have limitations on my intellect, you know!**

**DreamBeliever: ...and Kari is still a literal Mary Sue. How I despise Mary Sues...**

**IQman2000: ...Well, you got me there. I should probably try to fix that. Anyways, do me a favor, press that review button, and tell DreamBeliever to stop bothering me.**

**DreamBeliever: That's my job, remember? I'm the "meddlesome editor"**

**IQman2000: *facepalm***


	9. Interlude 1

**Descending Dream: Hey, have you realized that you completely got my name wrong in the last chapter? It's not DreamBeliever, it's Descending Dream.**

**IQman2000: Yes.**

**Descending Dream: Then why don't you change it?**

**IQman2000: One, I feel lazy. Two, to spite you. Three…I'm feeling too lazy to come up with a third reason.**

**Descending Dream: You also spelled "uploading" wrong, did you know that?**

**IQman2000: (goes to check) …Shut up.**

**Descending Dream: Do you want me to look over your Author's Notes, too?**

**IQman2000: NO. It's my only safe haven from your prying eyes!**

**Descending Dream: Y U NO LUV?**

**IQman2000: Because I'm like that. Oh, and to any possible DreamBeliever(s), sorry about that. Do not take anything in the last chapter about you seriously.**

**Descending Dream: Except for the Mary Sue part.**

**IQman2000: …you're never going to let me forget, are you?**

**Descending Dream: Nope.**

**IQman2000: *facepalm***


	10. Chapter 9: I'm BACK!

**IQman: I'm BACK, and we're here for more! And don't worry about the next chapter, my meddlesome editor is currently working on it as I annoy you!**

**Descending Dream: Whose idea was it to make one chapter 22 pages long, anyways? Of course I was going to split it up.**

**IQman: About that... I was planning to split it and post two chapters at the same time, but Dream's been feeling lazy. So we got one, and she's still working on the other one.**

**Descending Dream: Hey, you're the one who spent over a month to finish this!**

**IQman: ...Go back to work.**

**Descending Dream: Nya**

**IQman: *facepalm**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I can't even play the music correctly. -.-**

Chapter 9

It was official.

Jake officially hated the guts of his (soon to be former) boss.

_That bastard, making everything so dangerous and complicated! I hope we're not too late…Even if TK can take down Devimon, he'll get slaughtered by those waiting in the wings._

He fervently hoped that he got out of the Digital Portal he was spinning and tumbling through soon. It truly was pretty outside; Jake just couldn't find how he could appreciate that in a moment as drastic as this.

_If I don't get there in time, TK and those renegades are done for, the only hope for that world would collapse, and Matt will try to murder me. Joy._

Yeah, Jake really hoped he could get there in time.

###

"Why did you even bother?"

TK sighed. _Why does everyone like asking such deep questions? Is it wrong to do something you believe in?_

"There's nothing wrong in fighting for what you think is right. People do it all the time. Why do you think there were so many executions in the 1500s? That's because so many people had different ideas of what they thought was right compared to the authority. And they were killed for it. Wouldn't you agree that I'm like them, Devimon?"

"Meh...when are we going to move, anyways?"

"I don't know. I'm waiting for you to start."

###

Kari didn't get it.

_Why the hell are those two just standing there? Are they going to fight or not?_

Then again, Kari never was patient.

"Oi! Are you going to move or not?" Kari yelled to the two figures already. "Aren't you going to attack? Why are you just standing there?"

"I understand that it might be hard for you to grasp, what with your own aggressive tactics," TK shot back, his attention never wavering from his adversary, "but if your opponent is just as fast as you are, that's just asking for trouble. Never make the first move if your opponent can keep up. It's just begging them to counter it."

"Actually, TK, I am considerably faster than you. I just haven't done anything because I enjoy that you're confident that you can 'keep up' with me. Ha." Devimon threw his head back and chuckled. "How rich."

TK popped up right under Devimon then, giving him a nice elbow into the stomach. Devimon clutched his stomach in pain.

As Devimon stooped down in his agony, TK quickly turned and gave a fast sideways snap kick to Devimon's jaw. Following the momentum, TK twisted three hundred sixty degrees as his other foot shot to Devimon's chin in a roundhouse kick.

Devimon flew up a few feet. He backflipped twice, trying to regain control of his body.

But it was too late.

TK shot up behind him, landing on the trunk of a nearby tree. He bounced off and twisted into a frontflip, bringing his heel over his head and onto Devimon's back.

Devimon shot back down to the ground, twisting until he was falling headfirst, his arms outstretched. As he touched the earth, Devimon used his arms to absorb the impact and flipped himself into a standing position.

TK landed on another tree trunk and pumped himself down towards Devimon.

Devimon barely managed to jump away in time as TK demolished the spot he was standing on half a second ago with a kick.

TK got up from the destruction he caused and dusted himself off before staring down his adversary again.

"You sure you don't want to reconsider that?"

###

Izzy stirred, back throbbing. Shaking his head groggily, he was completely unaware of all that was going around him, he realized, and rose.

Pain. Why was there so much pain?

Izzy dropped back onto the floor like a sack of bricks.

_Why did I feel that pain? What happened to me?_

Mimi, Joe, Davis, Yolei, Sora… he watched them all get blown away by Devimon as if they were but leaves in the breeze. He felt a searing pain in the back and he knew – he was amongst the victims.

Red and black flashed in his vision.

He craned his neck out a bit, trying to see what was going on. The loud crunch of rocks shattering as the ground beneath his stomach shook sounded. Izzy tried to move his body without hurting himself, successfully managing to twist his body into a sideways position without yelling out in pain.

The sight he saw was one he was not expecting.

Devimon was fighting what looked… to be the only person he was ever forced to stalk with a video camera. Izzy was mentally slapping himself in the forehead by then. O_f course! Betrayal – I can't believe I didn't think of that! They're TRAITORS!_

Izzy paused in his train of thought then. _But…why? What's their motive? No matter, at least by fighting, he gives us some time…_

Izzy watched as the blond newcomer climb out of the crater he created and nonchalantly brushed himself off before he cockily said to Devimon, "You sure you don't want to reconsider that?"

Izzy didn't have to wonder what that strange kid was talking about. Devimon answered at question for him.

"You know, that was actually quite impressive," he said nonchalantly.

His voice shook.

_No way. He actually managed to make Devimon look a little…frightened. Exactly how strong ARE these people?_

###

To say Kari wasn't impressed with TK's performance would be a lie. Sure, she had seen people just as powerful in action, like Devimon, Etemon, and even some of TK's companions. But, all those times, she was too busy trying to find a way to beat them to appreciate their strength.

However, TK wasn't fighting them this time. What he was fighting for, Kari had not figured out yet, but one thing was certain: TK was against the oppressive evil attempting to conquer the DigiWorld, and he was also, however indirectly, keeping her and all her teammates alive.

_It certainly feels better when someone as strong as Devimon is on your side._

**What's this? Do I sense…hope?**

_I prefer calling it 'positive anticipation.'_

**Pfft, say what you want. Either way, you haven't felt that for a long time, haven't you?**

_What are you talking about?_

Kari left her internal dialogue there as she knelt besides Izzy, who was staring at the renewed face-off. She would've came as soon as she heard him yelp, but she couldn't take the risk of moving too fast. Devimon didn't need to be reminded that there were easier apples to pick, after all.

Izzy shifted his head a bit as he noted Kari's presence. He gave a soft, weak chuckle. "Hey, don't worry about me. I'm just a useless hunk right now, save your energy for yourself."

"Don't give me that bullshit," Kari growled as she mentally purged energy inside her to her palms. Pink light shot from her hands and flew in tendrils into Izzy's back. The wounds quickly began to scab over and Izzy felt the throbbing go away.

"Alright, enough…" Izzy grunted as he managed to heave himself into a standing position. Kari shakily stood up as well, the healing process completely draining her. The two of them, using each other as support, slowly walked towards patch of bushes away from the face-off TK and Devimon was still having.

"This is far enough. We should be fine here…" Izzy mumbled as the two of them dropped behind their cover in the bushes like falling boulders.

"Izzy, you're just begging for something like a giant laser to be fired towards the earth, proving in the process that we are NOT far enough, right?" Kari wheezed.

"Kari, you worry too much."

Izzy stuck his hand into his pocket and fished out his Digivice. He started pressing the buttons very rapidly with his thumb, issuing a command to bring his laptop out of the storage inside the Digivice. He immediately opened his laptop as soon as it materialized out of the light the Digivice was emitting and started typing furiously.

"Kari, go out and heal is many people as you can. When you're done, bring everybody over here. If they're still unconscious, carry them."

Kari stared at Izzy's slouched form. "And exactly what are YOU doing?"

"If you really must know, I'm analyzing the two wonderfully scary individuals staring at each other right now with the computer," Izzy snapped. "Now go and do what I said, will you?"

Shocked by the outburst from the normally calm and collected Izzy, Kari hastened to do what the techie had ordered. Forgetting that World War III was about to begin only a mere fifty feet from her, she brashly blasted out of the undergrowth

###

_That was a fluke. The real fight starts now. And I have no idea if I'll do so well this time…_

TK pushed these thoughts out of his head. There was simply no time to focus on such stupid thoughts. What was important was staring down the enemy, looking for the right opportunity for an attack.

_Not that I would find one anytime soon…I mean, how long can this guy stay alert, anyways?_

"You know, I might actually have to take you seriously for once," Devimon noted thoughtfully. He then smiled. "I must say, I have not expected that from such a weakling like you…"

_Stay calm, stay calm. He wants you to attack him recklessly…or perhaps even just lose concentration…_

However, the urge to punch the thin villain was still awfully tempting to TK's mind. It took all of his concentration for TK to not be blinded by rage and present a possible opportunity for Devimon to attack.

Devimon noted TK's very slight changes in body language. _Well, ain't he an easy thing to rattle._ He opened his mouth to deliver another grating taunt when Kari jumped out from the underbrush moving like a scared rabbit. Devimon flicked his head towards the sound in caution, in case that was an attack.

_There! Go go go!_

TK charged as soon as Devimon moved his gaze off from TK's standing figure. He jumped forward, putting his body almost parallel to the ground. He reached out for the ground with one arm, pivoting off it and sweeping his legs in an attempt to trip Devimon.

At least, in the space where Devimon stood about a second ago.

TK sprawled face-first to the ground, a resound ringing to the back of his head. Through his headache, TK could still hear Devimon's voice, oozing smugly behind him.

"Silly little boy…you're the one who should consider reconsidering."

_Oh, damn…Demons and confidence DO NOT go hand in hand. If he's confident that he can beat me now, I probably AM screwed._

TK rolled out of the way before Devimon's clawed foot could maul any part of his body and swiftly jackknifed into a standing position, but a fist to the stomach just sent him back down again.

TK planted one hand on the fall, changing his downwards movement into a sideways one as he swept his feet to trip Devimon again, this time successfully pulling it off. TK jumped to his feet and jumped at his chance to attack the now-prone villain

Devimon smiled.

As TK's fist flew towards his defenseless figure, Devimon reached out and grabbed his opponent's arm, stopping the fist just centimeters from his face. Amused by TK's shocked expression, Devimon flung TK from the air into a tree at the background.

TK flipped a few times, re-orientating himself so that he landed feet-first on the trunk. He scampered up the tree as Devimon suddenly appeared, striking the spot he was standing on just moments before. The force of Devimon's blow cracked the tree, causing the top portion to begin its rather far descent.

TK scrambled to reposition himself as the surface he was running on began to pitch to the point where he would've been hanging upside down. He reached the opposite side of the trunk, pushing off it with his feet.

_Now, let's try that laser thing again…except this time, I'm not aiming to destroy the tree. Just push it into our favorite stickman._

TK noted Devimon's current position as he charged energy into his right gauntlet. _Ok, he's right in sight._

TK punched out, releasing the energy before it built up too much. The beam, this time a pale, darkish yellow, crashed into the tree, sending it to a whole new trajectory. One hopefully had a certain villain in its sights.

TK was flung up a bit in the air due to the recoil of his blast. He backflipped into an upwards position again, smirking as he watched the tree fly into an amazed Devimon. TK charged another laser, this time firing it at the ground about ten feet above ground so that the fall wouldn't kill him.

He landed smoothly, brushing off invisible dust. He turned to look at the mess where Devimon was buried under, and his eyes widened.

_You got to be shitting me…_

Devimon was effortlessly carrying the giant portion of the tree with one arm. He cackled as he saw TK's flabbergasted expression. "Didn't see that coming? Boy, you hadn't even begun to see the real extent of my powers."

TK gulped. _Guess it's my turn to run from the tree…_

###

Izzy frowned as he stared at the monitor. It was extremely difficult for the computer to identify what was going on; he had to readjust the webcam continuously because the fight kept moving around, and they were moving so fast the camera couldn't pick up their movements half the time.

The result the computer was showing, though, was still frightening.

_Man, their level of power…it's insane…_

Izzy tried to re-evaluate his sense of scale in power as he stared at the charts.

_Both of them are approaching 700 in their energy levels…damn it, most of us can only reach the high 400s at our peak…Tai was the only one to break the 500 barrier. But this…it doesn't even seem like they're going to stop increasing their strength._

Izzy looked back on the battlefield. TK had just fired a fair-sized laser into a tree, causing it to fly towards the unsuspecting Devimon, who obviously did not see that coming. Izzy turned back to the laptop, noting a strange fluctuation of TK's power on the line graph.

His curiosity piqued, Izzy took a deeper look into it. A blured picture of TK firing the laser was shown, with an arrow connecting the picture to the peak. Another box came up, identifying the attack.

"Hand of Fate…" Izzy's eyes widened. _Prodigious! This is exactly what he needs…_

Izzy reread the window just to make sure. "Hand of Fate: Attack used by moderately high level Champions with holy attributes. Extremely deadly to Virus type individuals, but ineffective against unidentified beings."

_Hm, so TK was granted powers of a holy Digimon…I see…well, how am I supposed to tell him that? Kari, where the hell are you?_

###

Kari was having a bit of trouble rounding everyone up.

… well, not just a bit.

"Did we really move so far away from where the fight started?" Kari mumbled as she finally found the first victim, Cody.

"Well…I guess I'm lucky Joe and Mimi are conscious, otherwise this might take even longer."

Kari had found the two of them getting up. While Mimi could not do anything besides rounding up the other members, Joe was able to figure out what injuries everyone got from the fight.

He inspected Cody grimly, feeling his whole upper body for damages.

"Heavy bruising to the stomach, perhaps a few broken ribs, too," he mumbled. "Kari, just heal him until the bruising starts to fade. Your healing process attacks the points needing the most help first, right?" Kari nodded.

Joe stood up and shook his head. "Well, I'll go check up on everyone else. Man, Mimi and I got off so lucky…"

_Mhm, it's a huge step from getting knocked out to having a broken bones or giant scratches on your back._

Kari shouted at Joe's retreating figure, "Go check up on Yolei and Sora, they got it pretty bad. I'm not sure if Yolei still has any broken bones, and Sora had a giant hole in her shoulder before I healed it."

"What about Davis?'

"Nobody cares about Davis…no, he's got a cracked skull, but that's not too much to worry about…"

Joe laughed darkly. "No, slight brain damage wouldn't be too much of a problem. Well, it IS better than a hole in your shoulder…"

Kari wryly smiled too as she turned back to Cody, still lying pitifully on the floor. _Maybe Davis would forget some lines from that Yugioh Abridged series…although I wouldn't mind listening to it now. It's certainly better than having to fight against people who can and did snap us like toothpicks._

Kari closed her eyes as her energy streamed into Cody. After a few minutes, she noticed that the bruising had begun to fade and she stopped channeling. She slumped to the floor, exhausted by the output.

_And this is why I usually don't heal…it takes up too much energy. Sora and Yolei are definitely more efficient than I am…_

Kari slowly picked herself up and took Cody's arm. She began dragging him back to where Cody was hiding.

_I wonder how the fight is going._

###

TK never liked shiskabobs.

He never understood the novelty of eating meat off a stick. Why would one do that when one could eat exactly the same thing on a plate?

But with the prospect with being a piece of a large scale shishkabob himself, TK absolutely abhorred them at that moment.

Devimon was still cackling as he prepared to thrower that giant skewer of a tree. "You know, I rather like shiskabobs. So I'll certainly enjoy this giant one. I wonder how human meat tastes?" With that, he threw the tree.

The sharp edges were rather close to TK.

TK twitched. "I… hate… shiskabobs…"

TK let loose a bright yellow beam at the tree, disintegrating it completely, just like maple tree back in the real world. Devimon looked at the attack with surprise and a bit of fear. He wasn't sure why, but that attack scared the hell out of him.

TK wasn't done yet though. He fired another beam right after the first. Devimon eyes widened as the laser approached him. He jumped sideways, trying to get out of the way, but the laser still managed to hit his whole left arm.

Devimon was surprised. He didn't feel any pain. Nothing seemed to hurt when the bright yellow blast engulfed his arm. He flexed his left arm, checking for any damages.

_Strange. My left arm feels numb and I can't feel anything._

Devimon glanced down at his left arm. If that stub protruding from his shoulder could be called an arm, that was.

His eyes widened for the second time in a minute.

_What…what the hell? _

###

Joe was not always proud of being a doctor.

Sure, his dad was always telling how he had to carry on the 'family tradition,' but Joe wasn't exactly fond of referring to his future job in the name of the family tradition. Joe always believed that someone's profession should be determined by other factors – how much talent one possessed and how much love one possessed for his profession were two rather important criteria.

Joe wouldn't hesitate even a second to admit that his two brothers had a lot more talent then him in the medical field. Heck, they probably liked it better too! So why was he also mandated to follow in their footsteps if he couldn't reach their level?

Regardless, Joe had to admit that having medical knowledge wasn't too bad. It certainly helped in some tight spots… like the one he was in right now.

Joe had spent the past fifteen minutes patching up everybody. He grimaced as he took note of all the casualties that the Digidestined had experienced.

_Let's see… Davis needed some moderate bandaging around the head and Sora needed some heat pads for her previously pierced shoulder. Cody needed some lotion on the bruises and Kari fainted from the effort needed for all the healing… and her brother? We haven't dealt him with yet and I guess we'll get to him when we go back. Same with Izzy, especially since he's the one who told Kari to go on a little escapade and fetch us, and Yolei needed bandages almost everywhere, including places where guys shouldn't look._ Joe cringed as he remembered her attack on him when Joe tried to tell her that he needed to administer her wounds.

_There was absolutely no need for her to try and physically assault me…it's not like I was attempting to rape her!_ Joe grumbled to himself. _Besides, I'm already dating her sister…why the heck would I be interested?_

"So…how are we going to get to Izzy if Kari fainted again?"

Joe rolled his eyes_. Didn't I explain that five minutes earlier?_

"I'm tracing her path using basic tracking skills. I'm basically looking for broken branches or some other disturbed part of nature that might signify that somebody went through here."

"Oh."

Joe sighed. _Why must she be so clueless sometimes?_

"Come on, Izzy's waiting. And he probably has more bad news for us that we need to tackle immediately, so let's go. Make sure to drop the 'rape' victim while you're at it."

"Hey! You were basically telling me to take my clothes off so you could 'treat' my 'wounds'! What was I supposed to think?"

"That I'm not a perverted bastard, and I'm much more interested in your sister than you," Joe muttered. "That's also why I'm dragging three people instead of two. It's worth not having a purple-haired monkey banging me over the head and yelling, 'You pedophile!'"

"Ooh, so that's why you wanted to carry more people! I thought you were being a gentleman!"

"WHAT! ME, A PRUPLE HAIRED MONKEY? I'M GOING TO GET OUT OF THESE BANDAGES AND KILL YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"

_I hope I don't have patients like this in the future…assuming that I have a future._

###

Most people would be proud of themselves if they blew an adversary's arm off during combat. After all, one less arm for him to deal with, right?

But TK wasn't most and TK didn't feel proud. He felt a sense of dread. Sure, he blew off Devimon's arm. That was nice. But TK had the sneaking suspicion that he didn't play all the cards on the table yet.

And now that he had the villain fuming like a boiling pot of water, TK was certain that Devimon was going to pull all the stops now. What he wasn't sure about was whether or not he could take Devimon on if that did happen.

_The smart thing to do would be to finish him off now._

With that in mind, TK charged towards Devimon, firing another yellow beam from his fist as he approached. Devimon, without keeping his eyes off the left shoulder he was currently inspecting, raised his right arm at the beam. His right arm flowed with dark energy and he grabbed the beam with his hand. He then clenched his fist, shattering the whole attack.

TK skidded to a stop. _Too late…he's pissed, alright._

Devimon began to radiate a black aura from within himself. "You know, you're the first person to ever deliver such a…worrisome injury. Quite obviously, I'll have to use my full strength to exterminate you. How troublesome it'll be to use my full power on a scrub like you."

TK wasn't truly listening to a single word Devimon said. _After all, I already know everything that he was saying quite a while back. It would make more sense if I focus on how to deliver a giant one-hit killing blow. But to do that, I'll need a huge distraction…where am I supposed to find one of those?_

"Be proud of yourself, Takeru. You're going to be the first enemy I faced who will be able to experience my full strength, so enjoy it while you can. I assure you, it will be…invigorating, to say the least."

He looked back at TK, who was still standing in a crouched fighting stance, waiting for any action. Devimon smiled as the black aura around him flared up erratically.

"Just to inform you, this power of mine isn't all my own. I actually absorb Black Gears into my own body and take the power within them for my own use. And it's rather convenient that the place where all the Black Gears are stored..."

Devimon lazily lifted his one arm towards the mountain in the imminent background before continuing to speak.

"…is right there at Infinity Mountain, only a couple miles from Primary Village, the last safe haven for the Digidestined. How does it feel that the source of much of the trouble for the village resided right under its nose? Such a -"

A blinding white blast roared towards Devimon's back from somewhere in the shrubbery. Devimon didn't even make any visible movement, he just continued standing there as the black aura created a triangular wedge, splitting the beam to two different locations. One half vaporized yet another giant tree. The other crashed into the ground and blew up a giant crater.

Devimon just snickered at TK's attempt on his life. "Is that really the best you can manage? Such a shame, though I AM impressed that you managed to move at such a speed that you can leave an afterimage of yourself." Devimon glanced back at TK, still in a fighting stance, and watched it dissipate.

The real TK was hiding in the bushes, furiously thinking up a new plan.

_What IS there to do? I mean, that was really my best effort. It takes a quite a bit from me to do that Seal Step, and I put everything I had into the beam. So not only did he take the attack as if it was a fly, I'm feeling wiped out through it as well, which means none of my next attacks are going to be as strong._

TK could only watch in unease as Black Gears started swarming out from the mountain far into the distance. _I could try to blast the gears into bits, but at my current state, Devimon would block my attack before the beam even gets a quarter of the way._

He gritted his teeth in frustration. _I really need some time to recharge…but by then, I'll be dead. Forget what I said about needing a distraction. Now I need a miracle._

###

"There. That should be everybody."

Joe laid down all the unconscious bodies at the site where Izzy was still busy typing away on his laptop.

"So, now that we gathered up everybody, what are we going to do next?" Joe asked. "We have only four people still up and running, and even then, half of us are injured and therefore unlikely to be able to perform at their peak. How the heck are we supposed to take on Devimon like this if even our whole group got slaughtered by him?"

Izzy wasn't really listening as he continued to inspect the chart being displayed on the screen. _Why are TK's energy levels suddenly dropping…? _A brief flashback of a giant white laser appeared in Izzy's mind. _Of course…so then…oh, God damn it._

"Come on, what are we going to do? It's boring just standing here and waiting for you to say something!" Mimi was saying as she bounced up and down.

"Well…"

_Okay, so the only pieces I have to work with are Yolei, Joe, that chatterbox, and myself. None of us are able to stand up to Devimon, and the only one who stands even a slight chance against him is currently a sitting duck right now. Also, according to the tables, Devimon's energy readings have also taken a massive spike right now, so I'm not even sure of TK stands a chance against Devimon even at full power. But he's the best we got now, so…_

"Okay, this is what needs to be done…"

###

_So much for blowing up an arm. Why, out of all the things that could've happened, does he have to regenerate his arm? I mean, that is SO cliché!_

TK was starting to panic. Even if Devimon was able to stop his attacks while he had one arm, at least that one arm would've limited his fighting abilities, and offer a lot of holes where TK could possibly find an attack. But no, he just HAD to regenerate his arm during the absorption of the Black Gears.

_Stupid regeneration abilities…stupid Black Gears…wait, why am I complaining about that when it's rather obvious that Devimon is now over forty feet tall?_

Devimon was now towering way over TK's head, staring down at the now pitifully small boy.

"Oh, dear, there's a giant disgusting bug over here. I simply MUST exterminate it." With that, Devimon lifted one giant foot. Its shadow lingered over a good chunk of the forest, with TK standing smack-dab in the middle.

_Note to self: assuming I'm still alive after this, hiding in undergrowth does not work on giants._

With that in mind, TK ran for it.

He jumped up a tree, bounding away as he leaped from branch to branch.

TK took a chance and looked up to see how much time he had to get out of the way.

_Three seconds._

TK began to hurry, taking jumps wider and wider between branches. He knew he'll have to move at a borderline-reckless pace if he wanted any chance of surviving

_Two._

The shadow was becoming darker and darker. Soon, the place would be consumed by total darkness, and then there would only be destruction left.

_One._

TK pushed himself off towards the ground as Devimon's foot started to crush the crowns of the tallest trees. He flipped himself over and landed on his feet, crouching for only a second before continuing his escape.

_Zero._

TK was almost out of the shadows. But almost isn't enough. He lunged forward.

_That's not enough._

Desperately, TK fired another beam, this time angled towards the ground behind him.

The recoil pushed him over the edge between light and dark. TK rolled onto the floor on impact and immediately started to get up.

Too late.

Sure, TK escaped a gruesome fate involving the stinky sole of an evil Digimon. But he was still very much in the blast that was going to happen when Devimon's foot would hit the floor.

TK was blown away with the rocks and trees as Devimon's foot hit the earth with a resounding thud. Birds flew away in a flurry from almost every direction.

And then, there were no sounds left.

###

_You have got to be shitting me._

Izzy couldn't help but think that as he witnessed Devimon's humongous figure. There was no doubt in his mind that even someone like TK would've been able to take someone like that on.

"Oh, dear, there's a giant disgusting bug over here. I simply MUST exterminate it." He heard Devimon's now booming voice say.

_Oh god. I hope they reach him soon…he needs firepower… badly. _

* * *

><p><strong>The third evil cliffhanger...and let me tell you, there's a fourth right after this. So you're forewarned...anyways, read and review. You may flame me for being agonizingly slow, if you want.<strong>


	11. Chapter 10

**IQman: Part two of my long "chapter" that my meddlesome editor so KINDLY decided to split up...anyways...enjoy.**

**Descending Dream: Y U NO LUV?**

**IQman: Just say the disclaimer**

**Descending Dream: -grumbles- Fine. My idiotic benefactor does not own Digimon.**

**IQman: I'm smarter than YOU!**

**Descending Dream: Nya. :P**

Chapter 10

TK slowly picked himself up from the rubble he was lying on top of. He brushed himself off uneasily, unsure of what might happen next. He took a glance at where Devimon's foot had stomped on, and his jaw dropped to the floor.

There was just a huge patch of…nothing. There was just nothing left but dust that was already being blown away by the wind. And the scary thing was that he was blown so far back by the impact that he could actually see the foot shaped pattern of the destruction.

_Well, I hope that's another abnormality that old man Gennai might be able to fix so we don't have to explain what the hell happened here…even though I bet giant footprint marks aren't that strange in the Digiworld_.

TK looked up, looking for the giant figure he was absolutely certain was looking to see where the aforementioned 'giant disgusting bug' went.

All he saw was a clear patch of blue sky.

"Looking for me?"

TK whirled around.

Devimon was casually leaning on the broken tree trunks caused by his stomp. He raised an eyebrow, looking at TK rather calmly. "What? Don't tell me you thought I was going to stay that big the whole time."

"If you tell me you ate a Mini Mushroom or something, I'll just kill myself now and spare you the trouble, because this makes no sense," TK growled in irritation

"Well, I actually did… I have a stock of them just in case I need to grow shorter…"

"Forget what I said about killing myself. It's obvious you said that on purpose."

Devimon chuckled lightly. "It was worth a shot. I would've saved myself so much time if it did work. Enough chit-chat."

Devimon suddenly popped in front of TK, who lurched forward due to the fist that slammed into his stomach.

Devimon didn't relent.

TK dropped to the floor as Devimon punched him in the head; TK's kneecaps hadn't even touched the floor when Devimon's left foot smashed into his face, forcing his body upwards. His right foot followed right up after that, lifting his body airborne even more.

Devimon spun around and delivered a powerful spinning kick before TK had even reached the peak of his rise. TK flew away from the villain at a astounding speed.

TK tried to reorientate himself, but he felt a blow to his spine before he could even start, sending him rocketing in another direction.

_Damn, he's moving too fast!_

TK couldn't even keep track of what direction he was going, it was all changing too fast. He felt pain from every angle, and it was all going so fast that he could distinguish between individual strikes. Rather, it was torture for his whole body.

It finally ended after Devimon crashed TK into the floor with a pile drive before throwing him away. TK didn't even bother getting up immediately; his head was ringing too much to give him any sort of balance.

He was sure that he probably had broken bones at almost every single limb, along with several broken ribs.

"Hmph. It's just too easy now. There's absolutely no challenge in this," Devimon grumbled. "I guess I'll just have to finish this early, then. Good riddance, too. This was all so annoying…"

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

"I knew it," Devimon grumbled as he materialized a shield in front of the missile.

The missile connected, creating a huge explosion.

"Wait…damn it, he sent two!"

The second one, hidden cleverly behind the wake of the first, scored the hit.

Joe smirked with satisfaction.

_Joe, you need to provide a good distraction. Missiles and explosions are always good shock factors, so don't screw this up._

Mimi and Yolei rushed to TK's aid and began to heal him.

_Mimi, Yolei, the two of you combined should be enough to make sure that TK recovers from any sort of damage that he might experience before you arrive. But the important thing is to make sure you also replenish his energy supply. In fact, if you can juice him over his limit, that would be extremely helpful._

Joe hurried over to TK as the two girls poured all of their energy into the prone blond. TK shook his head slightly, trying to clear his head. He noted the Digidestined trying to heal him, but he could thank them later. Right now, he needed to confront the problem and eliminate it before it gets out of hand.

"Hey, kid, do you hear me?"

TK nodded as a senior from the school with blue hair and glasses looked down at him with a stern expression.

"I have no idea why I'm going to tell you this, because that would make you all the harder to deal with if you decide to do harm to us. But your little laser beam move, it's called Hand of Fate. You here me? Hand of Fate."

TK nodded. He knew why that guy was bothering to tell him what seemed to be trivial information.

_Remember, TK, moves we do seem to gain an increase in power if we know the name and call it out while we do it. I'm not sure of the exact figure, but I say almost twice as much._

TK was quite glad he listened to that lecture from Ken; there were times he was certainly guilty of dozing off.

"Good. Now let's hope you're up and running before that maniac comes back again." Joe quickly glanced to the side, and a frown appeared just as fast.

"Well, that was interesting," Devimon noted as he brushed himself off. "What were you trying to do, choke me to death with the smoke?"

The next part of Izzy's plan was extremely risky and unpredictable, which also meant it was the part Joe hated most. The fact that Izzy admitted that the whole plan could fall apart from here just furthered his worries.

_If TK needs to recover, you'll have to distract Devimon by yourself. Do whatever you can to stall for time. You do not have to do it by battle, just think of some distraction. In fact, avoid battle if you can, you'll last about five seconds. I know this sounds extremely vague and dangerous, but you have to pull through here if we want to pull this one through._

So Joe did the first thing that popped into his mind and opened his mouth.

"Well, suffocation by gases such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide are indeed able to fill up the lungs' muscles and stop the victim from breathing, but…"

###

_Nice save there, Joe. Trust you to open up your mouth to provide a distraction for once. I actually didn't think of that._

Izzy shook his head in amusement. _Well, at least Joe always gets the job done, even if some methods are rather…unorthodox, to say the least._ He frowned suddenly as he took note of the laptop screen.

_It's still not enough power…and apparently, the two "chargers" are out of juice. But where can I find another one? Every person with any sort of power transfer skill is currently unconscious…_

Izzy heard a groan from behind him. He turned and saw Kari struggling to get up from where she laid on the ground. She looked up and saw Izzy staring into nothing with a faraway expression.

"Um, Izzy, what happened?"

Izzy smiled. _There's the backup…_

"I'll tell you later. Right now, I need you to do something very important…"

###

TK was having trouble clearing his head until a loud yelp and a bang cleared his head for him. He jolted from the spot he was sitting on as he was trying to get rid of the ever-persistent ringing resounding in his eardrums. He glanced at where the loud noises came from just in time to see the blue haired person slide down from a tree trunk headfirst. He was still able to go rambling on about some sort of gas and suffocation as his eyes rolled in two separate directions.

"And then, if the fire has a lower temperature than normal and is unable to properly burn the material, you'll end up with more… dangerous gases."

TK turned slowly away from his delirious acquaintance and saw Devimon just standing there with an annoyed expression on his face. "Hmph. You just had to regain your senses while I was listening to this idiot. This is all so tedious…"

For emphasis, Devimon grabbed a Mach Impulse that was heading straight for his head mid-flight. He sighed as he clenched his fist over the missile, shattering it completely.

"See? No fun at all." He frowned at TK. "I sincerely hope that you are feeling much livelier now that you've gotten some... excess amounts of energy. After all…"

Devimon somehow managed to end up right behind TK. "You wouldn't want to die so fast now, would you?"

TK barely managed to duck out of the way of Devimon's choke hold. He swept his leg up as he did a handstand, but Devimon merely sidestepped.

Devimon struck out with his foot next, forcing TK to bound away in a flip from his handstand. He twisted in midair so that he landed facing Devimon again.

Devimon popped right up in front of TK with a barrage of fists, TK barely managing to block each one.

TK jumped back as Devimon tried to low kick him, giving himself some momentary space.

_This is my chance!_

"Hand of Fate!" TK shouted as he brought his fist up in a punching motion. He fired a brilliant bright white beam point-blank at his nemesis. TK heard Devimon scream as his vision turned completely white. He shut his eyes, trying to shield his pupils before they get damaged.

And then the beam was gone. TK opened his eyes tentatively, trying to get used to the sudden darkness. He rubbed his eyes, trying to readjust to the 'lack' of light.

_Man, that beam was brighter and more intense than any I fired so far…I guess Ken wasn't kidding when he said the move's strength drastically increase if you know its name. Something about it being easier to control if you know the name or something, I don't remember. Still, I'm sure even a pumped up Devimon couldn't take that._

TK's eyes finally readjusted to the normal brightness, so he opened his eyes a bit. His eyes snapped open real fast after what he saw.

Devimon was alive.

Devimon was bruised, yes, but still very much alive.

No. Fucking. Way.

"Hm…how interesting. I would not have survived that if I did not put up an extensive shield in defense of myself, and even then, I was bruised in various places," he dryly noted.

"You keep proving yourself to be a stronger and stronger opponent…it's too bad I'm still not finding any enjoyment in this. Chasing weak prey was always somewhat… unexciting."

_Fighting for your life is not something I feel should be 'entertaining' to begin with._

"Well, then I'll just have to hit you before you can put up a shield!" TK charged again, looking for an opening so he could finish the skirmish once and for all.

Devimon moved quickly away, suddenly appearing at TK's side, delivering a powerful side kick to TK's ribs. "You forget, I'm full of energy from the Black Gears. Since I am in this normal sized form, I have much excess energy that increases my speed by quite a bit."

With that, Devimon disappeared again, just to reappear above TK's head with a fist heading for his temple.

TK barely managed to block the punch before Devimon reappeared again in front of him, landing an uppercut to his jaw. There was no way TK could've blocked that one, the way he was still hurting from the kick.

He soared up into the air.

TK closed his eyes as he prepared himself for yet another volley of physical punishment, but it didn't come. Instead, he heard a bunch of zooming sounds that seemed to be heading straight for him. He opened his eyes a bit, and he immediately felt a sense of foreboding once he saw what they were.

Multiple blasts of dark energy was quickly approaching his body. _No way am I allowing those things to touch my body!_

TK retaliated by punching rapidly with his energy charged fists, sending out yellow lasers to stop each opposing blast in the barrage.

Back on the ground, Devimon's eyes narrowed as he saw what the pesky human was doing.

_He's actually learning swiftly…I should end this while I can._ Devimon placed his two hands in front of him, directing it at the airborne figure busy dispelling the onslaught.

"Death Hand," he uttered as a midnight blue sphere of energy appeared in front of his hands. Devimon quickly fired it off at TK, who was still occupied in his current plight. _Let's see you try to stop this._

TK saw the giant sphere flying up to him as he dispelled the last of the energy blasts. _Ah, dammit, I didn't actually expect him to use the Death Hand…I only HEARD of that move…and what people said about it was pretty darn scary._

But he had to try stopping it, nonetheless. _What a great time to determine the Hand of Fate's true power. You have to love the super clichéd life or death situations._

TK pulled back his fist as he prepared all of his energy into it. He knew that he wasn't going to survive if he didn't give this shot his all.

"Hand of Fate!" TK yelled as he released a white laser with the brightness of a star. The beam flew right at the opposing dark energy sphere. TK watched with anxiety as the two energy forces collided.

He'd never stood a chance.

The sphere cut right through the laser beam, splitting down the middle as it continued to fly up to TK.

_It's over now._ TK closed his eyes.

The sphere engulfed his body as TK felt an intense pain all over his body.

TK opened his mouth and howled.

###

Kari ran to the clearing where TK and Devimon were fighting, only to find…nobody there.

She looked around, and spotted Mimi and Yolei up resting on the tree. They looked completely wiped out, as well as a little disappointed.

"Hey, what are you guys doing on the tree? And where did everyone else go?" Kari hollered from the floor.

Yolei shook her head dejectedly. "We had to stay away from the fight and act as long range support. But I only managed to get in one shot before Devimon just grabbed it and crushed it without any sort of pain. After that…they were just moving too fast to shoot clearly. As for the others, well…Joe's on the floor, unconscious. TK…well…"

Mimi finished the statement for her. "He got blown up," she said, and her voice was serious as it had never been before.

"What?"

"Yeah, Devimon launched a huge sphere of dark energy at him while he was stuck in the air. TK tried to stop it with his Hand of Fate, but it wasn't enough. The sphere just…consumed him," Mimi continued.

"I feel bad for him. We never got to know what he was actually trying to do before he died. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy," Yolei muttered. She then remembered something.

"Hey! Did you see a body fall down after that sphere blew up? I swore there was one…"

"You know, now that you mentioned it, I think I saw it too…" Mimi turned her head back at Kari to voice her suspicions.

Kari was already gone.

###

Devimon walked up to TK, who was lying still on the earthy soil of the forest.

"There's no need to lie so still. I know you're still alive. You're quite the persistent one, aren't you?"

"It's too bad that you won't last more than half an hour in your current state. You put up a better fight than I thought you would have. It truly would have been a pleasure if we had worked side by side."

Devimon spat upon TK's face in contempt. "Why would your group betray us, anyways? We provided everything for you. We didn't betray you in any way. Why did you all suddenly decide to desert us? Why would you leave the Lord?"

A small, weak laugh came from TK's body. "You're right, you know. It all seems a little strange if you think of it that way. But we didn't quit because we weren't satisfied of our own needs. We quit because we weren't satisfied with what we had to do, what you all were doing. That's why we betrayed all of you. We couldn't take all the horrible deeds you were doing anymore."

"You're still so naïve, boy," Devimon murmured as he walked away. "So those are the last words you wish to speak. So be it. I must say that they were quite poetic."

Devimon suddenly glanced at some rustling shrubbery. He stopped walking, checking out the bushes in question. It stayed perfectly still.

"Perhaps it was just the wind."

###

Kari, with her keen sense of hearing, was able to hear Devimon's low mutter as he decided to walk past her. She let out a sigh of relief. _I was so lucky just now…_

"What are you sighing for, girl?"

Kari jumped as a voice suddenly spoke to her. She whirled around, scanning the surroundings in search of the voice's origin.

"Up here!"

Her face swung up as she saw Devimon leaning on a tree trunk, his feet propped up on a branch as he looked down at the brunette. The villain just chuckled as he noted Kari's shocked expression.

"Please. Did you actually think I wasn't going to check up on any suspicions I had? That would be rather embarrassing… after all, what if my suspicions were justified, such as now?"

Kari was too busy looking for a way out of this to listen to Devimon's gloating. _I have no choice but to run…now where's the nearest cover?_

She spotted a cluster of green bushes growing around the bases of a few closely grouped trees about twenty feet away. _That'll have to do._

Kari lunged at Devimon, making him laugh uproariously. "You can't possibly think of challenging me now, do you? You aren't even worth the time."

Kari grabbed a tree branch overhead as she jumped, swinging herself onto it before scampering away by jumping from branch to branch.

_I hate running away…_

"My, my, why are you running so fast for? Where are my manners? I can't let a lady just run out in such an undignified manner," Devimon said in a mockery of outrage as he suddenly popped in front of Kari as she was about to bound off again. His wings flapped up and down leisurely as he hovered in front of her, his arms crossed and a smirk placed on his face.

Kari tried to make a U-turn and run the other way, her plan already thrown out the window. But even that wasn't an option as Devimon grabbed her wrist forcefully, his fingers cutting into her flesh, drawing blood. Kari winced as she felt tears come to her eyes, but the closest she came to a scream of pain was a strangled yelp.

"I really should escort the lady out…" Devimon continued idly to himself as he threw Kari down to the floor. She crashed into the base of a tree with a loud thump. What really bothered her, though, was that snapping sound she heard. She tried to lift herself back up, but her left leg burned in agony and she dropped back to the floor.

_Damn it… m y left leg's broken!_

Devimon floated back down to earth and landed softly on the forest soil. "I would choke you for a third time, but I'd rather avoid it. After all, you always seemed to be saved once I start trying to choke you. I'll try something else this time."

Devimon then turned around and began to speak at what seemed to be something on the floor. "I hope you'll enjoy the show, boy. You'll hear the tortured screams of one of the people that you tried so valiantly to keep safe. It's too bad you decided to trade your trust in a bunch of people who wouldn't ever trust you."

Kari shifted her head and realized she flew back to where she started: the place where TK fell from the sky in a heap, his body steaming from the latest attack he tried to stand up against. Kari felt a pang of guilt as she saw the boy's broken body, knowing that many in the group, including herself, weren't exactly pleased with the idea of trying to know and possibly trust him.

Devimon raised one palm at Kari, who was still lying there in a heap. A black aura enveloped his hand. "Enjoy this while you can; this will all be the last thing you'll ever feel."

Energy blasts began to fire rapidly from his hand as he aimed the shower of dark missiles towards Kari. They flew towards her like a drone of angry wasps.

Kari felt their burns as each exploded on impact, felt her bones break from the power behind the blasts. She couldn't help it anymore. She screamed loudly in pain, so loud that she swore anybody within a ten mile radius would've came running. Of course, even if they did…they probably couldn't help.

The agony ended and Kari fell down to the floor, shaking from all the pain. She didn't attempt to move any part of her body, in fear of causing any more damage to her skeleton structure than what was already there. Pink sparks were flying up and down her body, trying to repair all the damages, but Kari knew she'd run out of energy long before the bones even came close to all finish healing.

"Hm…you're tougher than I thought. I didn't think you'll even have any energy to shake after I was done with that. Oh well, I guess that means I can have more fun, can't I?"

Devimon prepared to fire another round of energy blasts at his helpless victim.

He never got the chance.

Devimon jumped back as a white laser shot through the area he was standing on just moments before. Kari saw him turn towards the side again, saw his eyes narrow at the sight in front of him.

TK was standing up, his whole body enveloped in a translucent gold cloak of energy. His hair was over his eyes, making it hard to see, but Kari could tell that through the golden hair were also equally gold eyes. He stood there, presenting only a profile of himself to Devimon's view, his posture indicating nothing of the damage he just took so recently.

"Pain…" TK muttered softly, as if he was in a trance.

"What did you say? You want more? I can give some more to you, if you want." Devimon offered, voice kind.

TK's eyes glowed brighter, making it now shine yellowish white through his hair. "No… more… PAIN! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!"

With that, TK launched himself at Devimon.

Devimon laughed as he saw the 'boy' charge at him yet again. "You really don't know how to quit, do you?" He asked. "It is no matter. Things just keep getting more and more interesting with you around."

TK suddenly popped up behind his shoulder, aiming a chop right at Devimon's neck. Devimon ducked under the chop, chuckling as he did so. "Ah, you've gotten faster, much fast -"

TK's knee went up to Devimon's face at this point, stopping whatever Devimon was about to say. Devimon flew up from the impact, but he took that push as a takeoff for him to fly away using his wings.

TK popped up in the air right alongside him, bringing two fists down over Devimon's head and sending him back to the ground.

Devimon flew stomach-first to the floor, only to never reach it as his stomach met TK's outstretched fist instead. TK threw Devimon to the floor with his other hand, jumping right after him to continue his assault.

Devimon rolled away just in time as TK's fist met only earth. TK growled and went after Devimon again, loosening a barrage of punches and kicks as he did so.

Devimon was barely able to block each one. _Right face, left shoulder, stomach, lungs, forehead…he's moving too fast!_

Devimon ducked under a blow and managed to punch TK in the stomach again. TK flew back a bit from the force, but he just came right back up and started attacking again, unbothered by the attack.

Devimon tried again, setting his hand on the floor and sweeping his feet to trip up his opponent. As TK fell, Devimon swept his legs up from his handstand as an attempt to hit him again.

He couldn't believe it when TK grabbed the leg heading toward him and flipped in midair, throwing him into the ground. Devimon sprang up quickly, only to have to deal with the onslaught of strikes again.

TK finally managed to kick Devimon soundly at the legs, causing him to kneel down on it. He then kicked Devimon in the stomach with the other foot, forcing him to stand up again. TK cocked back a fist as white light encircled his gauntlets.

Devimon's eyes widened as he saw the bright energy beam heading straight for him from point blank range. He tried to block it with a shield of dark energy, but the laser just punched a hole right through it. He screamed as the laser made contact, burning a hole straight through his left thigh.

Devimon screamed again, this time in rage of what TK has done to him, and began to grow in size. Soon, he became that forty feet tall giant that he turned into when he absorbed the Black Gears in the beginning.

TK looked unfazed at the change of events. He just stood there, calmly watching as Devimon glared at him all the way above in hate.

"I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, WHETHER YOU'RE A HUMAN OR A DIGIDESTINED OR EVEN A HOLY ANGEL OF SOME SORT! NOBODY HURTS ME LIKE THAT AND **LIVES!**" he screamed.

As if it was a response, blue angel wings popped up from TK's back, also covered in the translucent gold aura. Devimon roared as he spread out his two hands, charging up giant spheres of energy.

TK jumped off from the ground, rocketing through the air. Devimon began to rapidly fire giant spheres of energy as he tried to gun down the persistent pest that had been bothering him all this time.

TK was just a blur of gold as he seemed to warp from spot to spot, dodging each missile with ease. Devimon roared again in frustration as he brought his hands together in front of him.

"Death Hand!"

This time, the sphere of energy was gigantic. It easily cast a shadow over half the forest. Devimon launched it at TK, confident that the Digidestined was unable to stop or dodge it this time around.

TK didn't even seem fazed by the size of the sphere. He just engulfed his hand with blinding white energy and shot straight through the sphere, popping the thing like a balloon. He zoomed past Devimon's now giant face and rocketed up into the air.

From that height, TK made a sharp U-turn and dived right at Devimon, one arm outstretched. The hand became enveloped in a dazzling white glow again.

TK was moving so fast that all you could here was a huge screeching noise. It was impossible to hear that he muttered a phrase while he fell from the sky in an Icarus-like attack.

"Hand of Fate," he muttered. The dazzling white energy around his hand grew even bigger; making it look like his hand was really just a large sphere of white light.

He crashed into the Devimon fist-first, connecting in the spot where Devimon's neck and backbone were connected. Devimon howled as he felt his neck break, as he felt his internal organs all get minced up by the cutter of white light inside of him, as he felt that scalpel finally leave from his stomach as he fell slowly down to the floor, as he felt the explosion that blew open from the corridor that the 'pest' had managed to carve into him. He slowly fell to the floor, shrinking as he did so.

###

Jake was about to cheer hysterically when his group finally existed the portal. Honestly, if he had to be in Matt's murderous presence any longer, he might have to do himself in.

_There's no time for that. Right now, we need to find TK._

Jake took in the surroundings a bit just to find that Matt had already began to harass some bystanding Digimon, asking for his brother's whereabouts. Lily and Athena were just standing uneasily in the side, both of them having nothing to say for once.

"I don't know, Matt, I haven't seen TK ever since he sent me away when he went to fight Devimon." A Patamon was wailing as Matt manhandled what looked like a yellow teddy bear. "Now can you stop hurting these poor innocents? They haven't done anything wrong!"

Matt calmed down a bit at that, releasing the teddy bear roughly and crossing his arms in frustration. "Sorry. But where the hell could my brother be? Hell, he probably already got himself killed by now!" Matt fell to his knees and punched the floor, tears starting to stream down his face. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why the fuck did this have to happen?"

Jake had no answer as he watched Matt's grief. He didn't know how it felt to lose anybody he was close to. Everybody in his family died before he was old enough to remember them, and he didn't have close ties to anyone other deceased person that he knew. But he knew he had to say something, because to sit here dawdling is not going to help anybody, especially TK.

Luckily for him, a huge explosion saved him from doing that.

_What the…what was THAT? I don't think anybody except Devimon could exert that kind of power, but Devimon doesn't need to cause such giant explosions to finish the other Digidestined off, unless…he was still fighting TK._

Reinvigorated by the realization that TK was still hanging around, Jake grabbed Matt's shoulder. "It's not over just yet, dude. We can't give up just yet. TK would never forgive you if you did without giving it your all first."

Shakily, Matt got back up from the floor, Jake patting him on the back all the while. "Good, that's right, stand up like a man and give it everything you got. Now let's go. That explosion just now is reeking with the message 'Over here!' Bet you twenty bucks TK caused that mess."

Matt laughed at that, though in his current state, it was more of a hiccup than anything else. As the two of them sprinted towards the source of the explosion, Lily and Athena were still staring at the scene that unfolded before them. Finally, Athena broke the awkward silence.

"Did I just see Matt cry?"

Lily sighed. _Of all the things you could've said…_ "Yeah, he did, but don't mention that to his face later, alright? Unless you want to get kicked out of the house. Now let's go, we don't want to fall behind."

Athena nodded listlessly as the two of them ran off after their comrades. _Why would Matt feel so sad about losing TK? I mean, yes, all of us would be sad. But life goes on, right? And there's nothing we can do about it if we die. So why bother worrying ourselves over it?_ She frowned. _I don't know, but I don't want to see any of my friends sad._

Shaking her head slightly, Athena decided to concentrate on running. Her thoughts were just too depressing for her liking.

###

Two beings sitting in a cave in Mt. Infinity witnessed the giant explosion and heard the ear-splitting scream. One of them sighed.

"I guess he couldn't do his job after all…well, that's too bad, I guess that means we'll have to go do the cleanup."

The other chuckled. "You make that sound like that's torture. Don't you have fun watching the little kids squirm?"

The first person shook his head. "I'm only here to eliminate the one who would cause my death, nothing more, nothing less. I only happen to be in this service because you people would be most beneficial to achieve my goals."

"Ah, I see how it is," the other jeered. "That's too bad. You could join me in being sadistic. Trust me when I say it's a lot of fun."

"Thanks, but I'll pass." The first person grabbed a communicator before the other could response, glancing at him a warning to stay quiet. He pressed the button and issued only five words.

"Devimon failed. We're going in."

###

**I think I must be the worst strategist in the entire history of strategists... .**

**Anyways, anonymous reviews are now open, so even if you don't have an account, review anyways. :P**


	12. Chapter 11

**IQman2000: Ugh, I finally upload a chapter...come on, dude. It's the summer break. You're supposed to update every 3 days!**

**Descending Dream: Maybe you would've finished sooner if you didn't spend half your time playing Yugioh online.**

**IQman2000: Hey! Yugioh is fun. Besides, it wasn't jsut that. I had other complications too. Like my parents dragging me around and...yeah, my parents. -.-**

**Descending Dream: Pfft. Stop making excuses.**

**IQman2000: Just shut up and finish editing this so I can repost it. My writing will cause people's eyes to burn because of my horrible grammer.**

**Descending Dream: Nya.**

Chapter 11

Izzy watched in fascination as a comet plunged into the giant fiend. He couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw.

_Is it over? Did that kid actually…defeat Devimon?_

Izzy shook his head in exasperation. Heck, he's been working on the sidelines half of the time just so that kid stood a chance. Why would he question the abilities of that stranger? Better to celebrate the end of a villain than to worry about such things right now.

"Amazing…" Izzy heard Davis utter as the rest of the team stared up at the brilliant explosion, showering the sky like fireworks. "I never knew that they could be this strong…"

_You've only seen a piece of it, this kid's been fighting for at least 25 minutes at an incredible strength. Those people are crazy…_

Izzy shook his head. The team has been watching the duel ever since the rest of them had woken up from their unconscious state. While Davis was viewing the fight in amazement, the rest of the group had different feelings. Tai was pacing restlessly, glancing at the sky every now and then, more concerned if his sister could be involved in the fight than the fight itself. Sora looked on, mildly concerned even though she never knew the person fending off the evil Digimon. Cody just stared with an impassive silence, not truly caring who won and lost. One less to deal with, after all.

Tai stopped pacing and began to address the group as Devimon fell back to the earth, his size reverting back to normal. "Alright, we gotta head over there now and check if there's any survivors. I don't care if that kid might betray us in the end, heal him if he's still alive. And if anyone should find the others…" Tai nearly strangled himself on a gulp before speaking again. "Bring them back to us, alright? Or keep them in one place, and Izzy and I will get to you guys."

Izzy wished he could say something reassuring, but he couldn't. He was keeping track of everyone's energy signatures with hislaptop, after all, and last time he checked, the person who Tai cared about the most had energy readings dropping like a stone.

Nobody else said anything, either. They all knew what was on Tai's mind. And they also knew that none of them can sincerely say anything with confidence concerning the situation.

So they ran after their leader as he charged into the foliage, hoping desperately that the best of situations has happened. Anything worse might be too traumatizing for someone to handle.

"Must we heal him if we find him alive?"

"Do you want me to kill you, Cody?"

"Hmph."

###

"Dammit, what in the fucking hell DID he do to you?"

Yolei felt like she was dying inside. She's seen deaths before, she watched whole villages get pillaged and its residence slaughtered. But she knew why the life or death of this one person meant more to her than a whole village.

_After all, "What do I care if number of nameless and faceless people and creatures were slaughtered in the future if in the here and now you were alive, and well, and happy?" Besides, Digimons can come back from the strings of codes they turn into upon death. Humans, however, can't come back from the dead._

Yolei chuckled darkly, shaking her head a bit, her purple hair rustling in exaggerated motions compared to the almost imperceptible movements of her head. _J.K. Rowling must have been channeling a genius when she was writing Dumbledore…._

She kneeled on the floor, her arm cradling Kari's charred face as she forced the tears in her eyes back. _She's not dead, she's not dead, if she was, than she would've turned into data…_

She shook Kari again, and again, hoping that she might wake. But Kari showed no signs of wanting to leave the bleak, dark world she was currently in.

_If only I came with her, perhaps this wouldn't have happened. If only I was smart enough to know what she was going to do…If only…if only…if only…_

Yolei heard some yelling off to the distance…or was it right next to her? She didn't care. She didn't care about the words "Come on, Yolei, standing here isn't going to help!" She didn't bother with answering questions that Mimi always seemed to have a knack of answering. Or was it Mimi?

It didn't matter. She didn't fight the pull on her arm that forced her standing and moving. All she did was hold her best friend tight, as if Kari would disappear if she let go. But Kari was dragged out of her grip. And Yolei, though she was as willing to do that as she was to stay silent in school for a whole day, was too exhausted to do anything about it.

###

Matt forced himself through the bushy trees, continuing to move towards the general direction of the explosion. Normally, he wouldn't push himself the way he was, because being drained when you get ambushed is a really dumb thing to do. But this wasn't a normal mission, this was his brother, and any ambush can go screw themselves over after he kicked their ass.

"Hey, Matt, slow down, will ya?" Matt heard Athena yell while she trailed quite a bit behind him.

"Hush, A, there's nothing wrong with his speed. Remember, this is for TK, it's not a normal day today. Se we can afford wasting ourselves even if there might be an ambush." Lily scolded.

"Alright!" chirped the ever happy teen. Jake shook his head at Athena's cheerfulness. _My god, still up and hyperactive even as this is going on…_

He continued running, his eyes jumping to and fro as he scanned the surroundings. Most people wouldn't be able to see anything except blurs of green and brown, but Jake was different. He could see just fine. And that's why he was glancing around frantically, in case they do get ambushed.

Matt turned abruptly, spinning 90 degrees to the left and shooting off in that direction. Jake sighed as he jumped and twisted in mid-air, grabbing a tree trunk and pivoting off that before following Matt at full steam again.

"Matt, what EXACTLY are you doing?"

"Smelled…burning…and dust. Evidence of…explosion." That was all Jake heard from Matt. The wind carried away everything else.

Jake got the message though. _I pity Matt every time somebody farts, but I guess having an extra sensitive nose comes in handy once in a while._

Jake can now see what Matt was referring to. Up ahead were plenty of smoke plumes and falling ash surrounding a circular clearing, twenty feet in diameter, with absolutely no plant life in sight.

Matt jumped over the log is if he was doing a vault, springing off the log with a handstand and flipping over it. He crouches for barely a second as he lands before he charged straight for the crater.

Jake could see a lone body, lying vulnerably at the center of the crater. Though he could not see who it exactly is, he could hazard a guess. After all, who else just caused a giant earth-shattering explosion.

_TK, you've outdone yourself this time…but there was no need to blow yourself up, too._

Matt was giving TK a one-over hysterically, trying not to break down completely while he looked at TK's state of being. TK's skin was all red and raw, and Jake knew that if TK was awake, he would be screaming in pain at every touch.

Jake crouched down next to Matt as he continued to check his brother over. "Looks like TK get hit by…that. Man, I never even heard of Devimon using it ever since the last war between the angels and demons…that was like, fifty years ago."

Matt grimaced as he laid TK back down slowly. No need to wake him up and have him screaming in pain. "Yeah, well, at least that means he put up one heck of a fight, eh."

"How's his pulse?"

"It's there…"

Jake knew what Matt was trying to say. _His heartbeat is erratic. He needs help fast._

"Come on, you two, stop dawdling and get your ass over here." Jake called as Athena and Lily finally skidded down the crater.

Lily only took one look at TK before a frown appeared on her face. Jake knew that was not a good sign – Lily doesn't show any expression aside from a confident smirk or smile (sometimes both) unless the situation was something extraordinarily bad.

"All I can do is numb all the pain…that's not going to solve anything."

Athena squatted over TK, her eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully. "Matt, damage report?"

"Burns all over his body, he has a lot of broken bones everywhere, too. Biggest problem is the rib cage and the entire left arm. His heartbeat is also erratic." Matt groaned as he put his hands over his head.

Athena nodded in thought. "Lily, go ahead and make TK numb to pain for a while. It'll be troublesome if he wakes up and starts screaming whenever he touches something. I'll bring his heart rate back to normal and help Matt heal the bones."

_I wonder if they know it's not enough to do anything except prolong the suffering…_ Athena shuddered. _Normally, I would just give someone a quick and painless death, but TK…there's no way he would want to end like this._

She groaned. _I hate this…to wish for the unthinkable would probably just crush me in the end… but the alternative is just as depressing…TK, you better recover, because I'll never forgive you if you don't._

###

It took every bit of patience in Tai not to just swing his axe into a certain someone's face. But no, SOMEBODY had to keep that son of a bitch ALIVE for "interrogation."

He growled as he swung his axe into the ground, imagining that he smashed open that person's face instead of the earth he was standing on.

"Tai, control yourself!" Izzy roared.

"Heh, I don't know why you even bother. It's not like you'll get anything out of me." Devimon grinned wolfishly as he turned his head to Izzy.

Izzy raised an eyebrow in questioning. "Are you sure about that? I don't need your body around just to get information from you. All I need is to capture your conscience."

"Heh, I call your bluff. If you could do that, you would've used it to stop me from demolishing your friends much, much earlier. Besides, I can't feel pain without a body, so your words are all empty."

Izzy's right eye twitched as he resisted the urge to just put the villain under the influence of 18,000 volts of a super-hot purple mass of electricity. _I'm glad I sent Cody along with Sora and Davis to search for everybody else…otherwise I wouldn't be having this conversation._

"Can't we just kill him?" Tai grumbled as he continued to wave around his axe viciously. "He obviously doesn't want to spill, so we might as well be rid of him."

Devimon's grin became wider. "Yes, I rather agree with that judgment. Just finish me off, it's not like I have to say anything. Besides, I'm still only a small dot in the whole picture. Many people under the Lord are stronger than me. My death will not be missed. And I surely doubt you will be able to handle the next wave that will come. After all," Devimon choked a little bit, spitting out blood onto the floor, before continuing. "The boy is also at near death, and he's the strongest fighter on your side right now. Not to mention I got rid of that little girl as we-"

His sentence was cut short as Tai finally gave in and began hacking away at Devimon's prone figure with amazing vigor, slicing and dicing his body to pieces. The blood flew in every direction, spewing away like a fountain. Though Tai's face was covered in blood, one would still be able to see the wild look in his blood-red eyes.

Devimon seemed unaffected by the gruesome proceedings upon his body. In fact, he seemed to goad Tai into causing more and more damage.

"Yes…There's only so much each and every one of us can do. And then, sometimes, we lose. People die. It happens. If only people would accept it…" Devimon sighed before Tai brought down his axe and chopped off his head. Devimon's head rolled on the floor, covering the earth in blood, his mouth still making out words.

"If only people would accept it…if only people would accept it…if only…"

Izzy sighed as purple electricity erupted from his fingertips, incinerating the head to silence. All that he could hear after that was the rustling the leaves and Tai's heavy, erratic panting.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…my god, when we get back, I need to find you and your sis a therapist. The two of you really need help." Izzy groaned as he put one hand over his face.

"…yeah, but we'll probably drive the therapist insane, too."

Izzy facepalmed again. "Come on, I think they found everybody." He said as he looked at the messages on the Digivice he just took out.

Tai nodded as he followed Izzy into the underbrush. He knew what Izzy was really trying to say: _We're going to find your sister, so I can order a psychologist on both of you._ And it comforted him to know that his somewhat distant strategist cared enough to try and comfort him, even in his own strange way.

_Thanks, Izzy, but really…there's no need to get my hopes up…you don't have to try and lessen the impact. I'll take it if it comes…there's nothing else I can do._

###

(a little while before…)

Sora knelt besides Joe, checking if he had any sort of injuries. She rolled her eyes as she remembered the conversation between her and Mimi.

#Flashback#

_Mimi was sitting on a branch of the tree that Joe was still lying on, her head drooped, shoulders hunched as she sat there without moving._

_Sora was confused and worried. _Mimi is usually so hyper…_ she thought in concern. _Did she get knocked out as well?

_That's when she caught the sounds coming out of Mimi's mouth._

_"Zzzzz... zzzzzz…"_

_Sora's eye twitched._

_###_

_Mimi remembered walking back to where Joe was lying pathetically after her talk with Yolei when Kari bolted._

_"Hold on, you go back, I'll go after her. Don't worry, I can track her down…eventually." was Yolei's order as she jumped down the tree in pursuit._

_Mimi remembered jumping onto a tree branch hanging above Joe's head. She remembered settling down on the branch, making herself comfortable as she kept watch on her perch. Nothing out of the ordinary was going on..._

_Wait, how did Sora suddenly appear in her front of her face, yelling her head off?_

_"Mimi, what the hell are you doing?"_

_Mimi held back a shriek as she gripped the branch with her hands, trying not to fall from shock._

_"Uh…keeping watch?"_

_"Watch? What watch? YOU FELL ASLEEP, DAMMIT!"_

_Sora began to shake Mimi's shoulders as she continued to shout._

_"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS WHEN I FOUND YOU UNMOVING ON THAT TREE BRANCH? YOU COULD'VE BEEN INJURED! YOU COULD'VE _DIED_! AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO SLEEP NOW OF ALL TIMES!"_

_Mimi was starting to feel dizzy. In an attempt to make her stop, she managed to say, "Well, I'm still alive, right?"_

_She choked as Sora suddenly wrapped her arms around Mimi's neck and held her close. "I seriously thought you could've…died." Sora let out a strangled yelp._

_"You're…choking…me…"_

_"Oh, sorry!" Sora released her captive from her cage immediately. Mimi rubbed her neck in irritation, trying to get the pain away._

_"You know…if I was sleeping, why did you wake me up?"_

_Sora's eye twitched again._

_"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?"_

#End Flashback#

_Sometimes I wonder why she's my best friend…_Sora grumbles as she finished checking up on Joe's condition.

_There's really nothing wrong with him. All I have to do is this…_Sora raised her right hand up before bring it down viciously into Joe's left cheek.

Joe's eyes snapped open as he bolted up, flailing his arms everywhere. Sora moved back quickly before she got hit as well. She preferred staying the person who was dealing the damage.

Joe's eyes snapped to Sora. "What the hell was that for?"

"You were knocked out…"

"Oh, right…"

"So, do you know where Kari is?"

"Sorry, I was knocked out. The only thing I remember was talking to Devimon about something involving ash and strangulation before he got annoyed with me."

"Ash and strangulation? You got to be kidding me…" Sora muttered as she sat down.

"Wait, shouldn't we go find everybody else? In fact, how did you get here? I thought you were unconscious."

"We're not zombies, Joe, we were going to wake up eventually." Sora grumbled as she made herself comfortable. "Nad why are we not moving out, that's because Cody, Mimi, and Davis will come back here after they find Yolei and Kari."

"Hm…so we just wait here and do nothing?"

"Yep."

Joe sighed as he sat as well.

#ten minutes later#

"Sora!"

Davis and Cody bursted out of the underbrush, carrying a slumped Kari between them.

Sora gasped as she saw Kari's condition.

"My god…where did she get the burns?"

"Looks like Devimon's doing. Normal high-pressure blasts of dark energy." Joe noted from his corner as he materialized his first-aid kit from his Digivice and started taking out anti-infection cream and a roll of bandages.

_Dammit, I would to smash Devimon's face in…too bad I'm too weak to do that._ Sora fumed. _At the very least, I have to reject the fate that Devimon tried to assign her to..._

She touched Kari's forehead as the boys laid her down, feeling inside with her energy to see what's wrong. _Dammit…five broken ribs, looks like one lung's been ruptured, the right shoulder almost shattered, multiple fractures, her face and arms are intensely burned…at least none of the internal organs are beyond repair…though the lung is going to take quite a bit out of me to heal._

"Mimi, Yolei, I need you two to help over here…" Sora ordered as she saw the two of them come out of the underbrush as well.

"I'll help, but Yolei…well…" Mimi gestured towards the younger girl hopelessly as Yolei continued to stare forwards with a dead expression.

"…Shock?"

Mimi only nodded. _Funny, when her incessant chatter would be a little helpful, she clams up._ Sora rolled her eyes.

"What? Why should I talk during a time like this? It's certainly not exactly cheerful enough for me to start blabbing!" Mimi retorted

Sora groaned. _I hate it that Mimi can read me like a book…_

"Oh, just help me, will you? I need a lot of power, but you're the only relatively sane person left that has energy I can use deftly. The guys' energy pools are just too…dense and heavy."

"Ok, ok…" Mimi put a hand onto Sora's shoulder, transferring her energy into her friend's body as Sora went to work, transferring energy into Kari's chest.

"First things first, we have to handle the lung…" Sora muttered as sparks began to burst out in bits from her fingertips, and thin streams poured into Kari's chest. _Please, please, not too many sparks, I need every bit of energy I can get…._

Sora could somehow see, somewhat like a hazy image in her mind, Kari's lung expanding back to it's normal size, the hole in the muscle repairing as the sinew seemed to sew itself over the gap. Kari's breathing slowed down from her almost silent erratic wheezes to gentle, steady breaths.

Sora cut the flow of her energy off and immediately felt a little woozy. She felt the hand on her shoulder drop as Mimi sunk to the ground on her knees. Sora ignored the disorientation in her head as she quickly turned around and caught Mimi before she collapsed head-first into the soil, gently setting her down onto the grass with her face up to the sky.

_There, now she can't complain that her face got dirty to me later…_

"Alright, Davis, you're up next…you have the largest energy pool out of all of us here, so you're going to help me treat the rest of these injuries…"

#Another five minutes later…#

"I feel like I'm going to die..."

"Davis, you're not going to die. You're just tired because I drained a lot of energy from you to heal Kari. Now stop complaining and just sleep. Trust me. Nobody is going to drop anybody here."

Sora, Joe, and Cody were hauling their unconscious friends back to where Izzy and Tai's current location. Though Sora had been somewhat put out by the amount effort she had to put into dragging Kari away from the brink of death, Davis was really the one suffering. While none of Kari's injuries were as serious as the failed lung, there were definitely too many of them to count.

Davis remembered the time when Sora dealt with the nearly shattered shoulder. It was almost as dedicate an operation as the lung, but Sora couldn't use Davis' energy to its fullest because it would then be too cumbersome for her to wield properly. Thus, she was forced to waste so much of Davis' energy that the glow on her hands looked like a red gas lantern.

_Hmph, I bet that part took more out of me than all the other jobs combined. _Davis thought irritably. Since he cannot blame Sora, who worked quite hard herself to heal Kari, and he couldn't blame Kari, because…well, he'll think of something, but anyways, he couldn't blame Kari either, so Davis blamed his current situation on the person who caused Kari harm instead. _How dare that bastard assault Kari like that…I can see why I wasn't picked for finding and interrogating him – I would've decapitated his head once I found him._

Sora rolled her eyes as she continued to lug her patient along. "Seriously, Davis, Do you go around with a vendetta against every single person who lays a hand on Kari? Maybe I should let go of her now, then, because obviously my life is in grave danger!"

"…uh…um…uh…well…I…" _Damn me and my stupid mouth!_

Davis gave up and resorted to his secret weapon before he prented to fall into an exhausted sleep.

"Screw the rules, I have goggles on my head!"

Sora sighed, but did not press further on the matter. _When is that poor kid going to find out that the girl he fancies just doesn't like him that way in return…? He's just asking for more suffering…ugh…_

Shaking her head in confusion, Sora decided to just not bother with the all the peculiarities and just focus on getting to their destination. Heartened by her resolution, she faced forward again, determined to get the group back together… just to see a giant crater to the distance.

_…What the…_

"Wow…was this all from the fight earlier? No wonder it felt like an earthquake every five seconds…" Mimi muttered. Sora resisted the urge to hit the oblivious girl upside the head and yell, "Of course it was from the fight, do you think any of us are capable of doing that?"

"I am NOT oblivious!"

_I so need to fix that problem…_

Sora returned her focus to the crater. They've gotten closer to it during the bickering, and Sora was now able to see some figures all huddling up around something there, a bright blue beacon of light sharpening the outline of their shapes.

_One, two…four…of course…_

Sora quickened the pace, a sneaking suspicion nagging in every corner in her mind. _There's simply no other way. I've seen enough today to know there are NO coincidences…_

"Oi, why are we moving so fast all of a sudden? And why is Cody cursing his luck all of a sudden behind me?" Mimi questioned.

"Because we're going to meet up with some people that Cody apparently seems to despise, Mimi" Sora said exasperatingly. "And Cody, please, try to refrain from attacking them, will you? I have doubts I can get everybody out safely if it was a four on three with the three dragging around unconscious team members."

"Who made you my mother?" Cody grumbles as they sped along towards the beacon of light.

###

Lily got up from TK's unmoving body, breathing somewhat deeply as she did so. "Matt, I'm done with the whatever-you-call-that-thing-which-makes-you-numb-to-pain process, how about you?"

"It's going ok…" _a.k.a: he's saying, "at least he's not yet dead yet."_

"We've slowed down the heartbeat by balancing the adrenaline and stuff coursing through his body. Of course, now we have to work on all the burns and broken bones…"

"Lily, don't listen to a word he says, I know I'M not feeling ok." Athena groaned as she squeezed Matt's shoulder so hard that the veins on her hand were showing. "I feel so goddamn tired…"

"Athena, where DID you learn this kind of language?"

"From school, why?"

"…ugh…I knew it…" Lily gently pried Athena's hand off of Matt as Athena slumped into her cousin, finally relieved her of her channeling duties.

"Fine, A, take a break. We're talk about your language LATER." Lily promised sternly and Athena nodded quickly before toppling on the floor and closing her eyes with a smile, Lily's threat already all but forgotten.

"Hmph, still as cheerful as ever…" Lily chuckled. "So, Matt, I'm next, right?"

"…yeah…but…if you blow out, I can't use Jake's power…his is…it's completely out of control…only someone with concentration like his would be able to do anything with it. And his control is not cut out for healing." Matt noted. Though he tried to sound cool, calm, and confidently collected about the whole situation, Lily could tell he was troubled by the possibility that TK might not make it through, or, if he did, he might have a life-changing injury. And she also knew that if that happened, Matt would blame himself for it until the end of time itself.

_No way. Even if TK dies, I'm not having Matt die spiritually as well. That is, if TK dies. Which I'm not allowing either._

"Well, I'm not going to blow out that easily," Lily put her hand on Matt's shoulder. "I'm not going to let your brother just die or be permanently crippled. He means something to all of us too, you know. So don't force it all on yourself. We'll help any way we can. Now get going and fix all this."

Matt nodded, but Lily could tell he was still bothered. _Should I give him a shot of my energy to give him a boost in confidence…?_

"Don't bother wasting your time and energy. If you want to try to mess with my head, I'll just block it and you'll waste energy that could go into the healing instead."

_Right, his own energy counteracts any form of brain-control…I guess that's what happens when your high point is friendship; your loyalties don't change easily._

"Fine, fine, fine…just please, concentrate, will you?" Lily pleaded. "It's not helping anyone if you worry about what hasn't happened/"

Matt furrowed his brow in thought. _She's got a point… I need to focus if I want TK to survive._

"Ok…let's get cracking."

Matt's hand started to flare up brightly again as he started working. "We have to fix the rib cage first, it makes it hard for TK to breathe." He muttered as he put his hand over TK's chest. Blue energy streamed into the chest as Matt poured energy into it, stopping every once in a while to check gently if the bone was back into place. Lily was starting to feel a bit weary before Matt stopped and showed a small smile in satisfaction.

"Still hanging in there, Lily?"

"Just a bit tired, otherwise I'm fine."

Matt frowned, his previous satisfaction whisked away by the wind. "We might not have enough to save the left arm, then…"

"And again, we're not going to let TK go down like this. I'm still with you, so I'll be fine." Lily said firmly.

"Ok…" Switching his focus to the arm, Matt's hands flared blue again.

Lily tried her best to keep her energy flowing through her hand and into Matt, but she felt more and more tired by the second as Matt continued. She knew she was in trouble once her head started to hurt and she began to feel light-headed and dizzy.

_No…I have to stay strong…just hang on a little longer…come on…_

Lily's knees buckled as she felt her hand slip and her body began to tip over. Her eyes stared forward glossily as she saw the ground start to curve up and greet her. But she saw only total blackness before the ground could reach her, and she felt no impact. Still, either way, she knew what was happening to her.

_Fuck…I'm sorry…_

###

Jake lowered Lily to the ground, having caught her before she could fall smack-dab into the earth.

"Damn, she gave out…it's just me now…" Matt gave a harsh laugh. "It's always down to me, isn't it?"

"…shit…" Jake muttered as he examined TK's current condition. "You do realize that once TK wakes up, his heart rate is going to skyrocket again, right?"

"What? Why?"

"Battle instinct. TK fell in the heat of combat. Once he wakes up, he's going to think he's still fighting, thus all the adrenaline and other body-inducing drugs would begin circulating again. But his heart rate is already faster than we would like with the current injuries, even with the pain-numb, and if it speeds up to that degree…he's not going to be able to hold out." Jake said softly.

Matt's face paled. "…so…if I can't heal everything, he's going to die…"

"Yes…and I'm of no use either." Jake mumbled. He kicked a tree in frustration, knocking a hole into the bark. "I hate feeling useless."

Matt, meanwhile, turned back to TK with a renewed vigor. "Well, in that case, I'll take all your injuries down before you wake up. You're not leaving me just yet; there are still family matters you wanted to fix. I promised I would see you through it, and I'm not going to break a promise just yet." Matt kneeled by TK again, putting his hand over the damaged left arm.

"A good sibling never breaks a promise…"

###

"That guy's nuts, he's healing without anyone to act as a conduit…" Mimi gasped as she saw a boy try to heal what appeared to be the miracle blond's left arm. "Why isn't that other guy helping? He's still up and running…"

"Come on, Mimi, can't you feel it? Energy just seems to pour out of him…it's like it's unstable…" Cody scolded.

"Oh, so that's why I'm having a funny feeling…"

"Mimi, why are you so clueless…?"

Sora paid no attention to the argument as she focused on observing over the underbrush. _He's wasting so much energy…no wonder it looked like a beacon of light…_

"Hey, where's the sixth person…?"

"Mimi, what nonsense are you sprouting this time?"

"I'm serious…if this is the group I think we're talking about, then they have six members, right? But there's only five of them here…so where's the last one?"

"You actually have a point there…wait…oh shit…" Cody's face paled. "He could be spying on us right now…"

"Are you talking about me?"

They whirled around. Ken was leaning on a tree, watching them coolly.

"Oh, please, don't bother attacking, will you? I was actually late to the party due to…_complications_ back on Earth. I just happened to stumble onto you guys while you guys were bickering loudly, and just listened in from there."

Sora's mouth opened as she heard Ken's words. _No way, none of us even started to try and materialize weapons yet…how did he know we were considering attack?_

"How did you know we were going to attack you, anyways?" Mimi wondered the exact same thing out loud.

"I can sense positive and negative intentions, that's all." Ken shrugged. "Given the current situation, it's a little obvious that you were considering an attack."

He started walking towards the crater. "That's not really what I'm here to talk about, though. I want to ask you a favor on behalf of all of us."

"What favor?" Sora asked cautiously. _Might as well play along, he doesn't seem like a good person to pick a fight with._

"Help us heal TK. Please. You have no idea what a kind soul he is. He doesn't deserve to go down like this. So if you can help, please help us do so. We care about him, especially his bro over there, trying desperately to heal him right now."

He stopped walking. "I understand that some of you are doubting the words I say right now. I don't blame you. Why would you trust the words of your enemies? But we're not your enemies. Not anymore, anyways. We're calling it quits from the Lord. We were planning to a long time ago. We would've waited longer, truth to be told, but the Lord found us out, so we had to force our hand. This whole incident wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the fact that we weren't plotting to break free. But that's not important right now. What matters now is that you consider our offer. And if you still think we're your enemies…"

He turned and gave them a piercing stare. "Doesn't TK's actions prove our intentions well enough?"

With that, he walked to the crater, leaving the three others at a loss for words.

###

"So, what did they say?"

"Hmph, you knew they were there too, why didn't you take care of it?"

"Why should I? You were better positioned, and I felt lazy. More importantly, I have to keep watch for anything else that might happen."

"True."

"Back to the question. What did they say?"

"They didn't give an answer, but I think they're discussing it right now."

"…So?"

"The ladies feel mildly positive right now, almost like it's warily. The boy…he's reeking negative emotions all over, but he seems to do that at the mere thought of us."

"Hm…perhaps we should try proving that we won't attack?"

"Perhaps. You deal with that, I'm going to help Matt."

"Alright."

Ken walked to Matt and spoke softly in his ear before putting his hand on his shoulders. Matt nodded wearily as Ken put his hand onto Matt's shoulder. Meanwhile, Jake yelled across the crater.

"You can come armed if it makes you feel better! I'll even come up and offer myself as hostage, if you want!"

Back in their hiding (well, not hiding anymore, but still), Cody hissed "Should we trust him? Hostage taking might backfire."

"…It'll be fine. You can activate your drills, right? If you press on near a vital part of that guy's body, he wouldn't be able to do anything, because you'll just stab him silly. Plus, Mimi and I will help you. The three of us can take him down if he's going to lower his guard like this." Sora thought aloud.

"…Fine. But if we all die, I'm hounding you in the afterlife to say, 'Told you so.'" Cody said huffingly.

"Ok! We'll take up your offer! Come here with your hands up, and move SLOWLY!" Sora yelled back.

Jake slowly walked to the underbrush with his hands high up in the air, and Cody, with his Drill Lance outstretched, prodded Jake forward, back to the crater. Sora kept one hand on the giant fan she stashed on her back, and Mimi pounded her Cactus Gloves clad fists into each other threateningly.

"I really hate the dramatics…well, I guess we DO deserve them…" Jake muttered as he marched towards the body, the other three scrutinizing his every movment from behind.

As they reached the body, Sora rushed ahead and crouched down next to TK. Matt looked up, but he didn't say anything, just briefly acknowledging her presence before returning to tending his brother, his hands glowing bright with blue energy.

Sora gripped his wrist to grab his attention, and he looked at her again, this time irritated.

"I'll do it, you're wasting too much energy, the excess is flying off everywhere." She said softly. "Just give me whatever you have left."

Matt hesitated for just a moment. _I might as well, I need some major help right now. Ken's power…it's not good for healing, it's really weak. Then again, Kindness isn't the greatest healing agent…there's only so much it can do…_

He nodded, scooting aside so Sora could pay attention to the damage instead. Sora pushed her energy inside, checking up on the boy's left arm. _My god…it was shattered completely…I can't believe that boy managed to fix it that far…this is even worse than that almost shattered shoulder Kari had…_

"Shattered left arm? Hm…I wonder if I have enough energy…" She wondered aloud. Matt gave her a quizzical look.

"I could feel the injury inside a patient's body by using my energy to probe inside the body…it's a trait I have…" Sora replied to Matt's silent question.

Sora put her hands right over TK's left arm. Closing her eyes, she welled up the remaining amount of power she had left. However, Sora felt a hand clasp onto her shoulder before she could do so. She looked over her shoulders to see Matt's stone-faced facade staring right back at her. She then felt his energy coursing through his body.

_Hm…it's quite light…he's the first male who has energy I can control properly…how strange…._

Sora closed her eyes, focusing on her hazy image of TK's arm inside her mind. She poured the energy out of her fingertips, sending a web of thin energy streams into his arm.

_Huh…I can barely feel any sparks of wasted power…maybe I should jack this guy for healing more often._

"You know, you can just ask, right?"

_What's with people and reading my thoughts, dammit!_

"Well, your facial expression and such when your thinking just gives you away too easily. Plus, having the Crest of Friendship has its uses."

Sora scowled as she continued to focus on fixing TK's arm. "I preferred it when you kept your mouth shut." She muttered as she slid the energy into the cracks between each shattered piece.

_That person didn't do so bad…at least he managed to position all the pieces properly before his helpers gave out. That takes quite a bit of work._

"I'm flattered."

"Would you stop reading my facial expressions!" Sora hissed as she saw, in her mind, TK's bone fragments quickly growing and connecting with each other. "I swear, if I opened my eyes, I would know exactly what kind of look is going to be etched on your stupid smug-looking face, and trust me, it will look MUCH different once I'm done with you."

There was silence for a few moments as Sora returned to fixing TK's arm, feeling satisfied of her victory. At least, until the accursed person spoke behind her again.

"I call your bluff."

A vein throbbed on Sora's head. _Why, that little…_

"Focus on the healing. Say, how is it going, anyways?"

Sora pushed aside her mounting anger for the moment. "It's going fine, the bone fragments are almost done reconnecting each other and re-growing the calcium necessary to make it strong enough for use. I can't speed up the process any faster, though, his body is just going to have to do the rest. TK should not use his left arm extensively for a little while, though. We don't want him to suffer unneeded injury."

"…"

"Is there a problem?"

"How do you know his nickname?" Matt asked sternly.

"…He's enrolled in our school, why?" She asked, somewhat puzzled by the quick change of attitude.

He said nothing, just took to looking at the injured in an icy silence. Sora fidgeted nervously, wondering what was going through his mind. _Ok, I kinda preferred the smug acting guy to the "Any-second-I-might-kill-you" guy._

"If you guys hurt him in any way because of his past, I'll come back and hunt down all of you. If you guys hurt him for any OTHER reason, I'll come back and kill all of you quickly. If he ends up dying at your end, I'll never forgive you for the rest of my life. And if he feels unhappy there…I'll think of something agonizing to make you all go through."

Cody wanted to spring up at Matt at this point, but Jake grabbed his lance and forced it towards Cody's throat.

"Please, leave them be. Matt won't hurt anybody until he's given a very good reason."

"Are you kidding? He's practically threatening us here! What reason is there for him to do that?"

"I thought Ken already explained the reason to you." Jake calmly noted as he stared impassively right back at Cody's bristling expression.

Mimi was standing to the side, staring at Matt while everything was going on. "Hm…he still looks familiar…but from where?"

Sora didn't say anything after Matt's strange outburst. She just turned back to TK and began treating the other broken bones in his body.

"Do you under-"

"You're scared of being a failure of a sibling, aren't you?"

Matt closed his mouth, looking downcast.

"I don't understand why you would feel that way, though. Anybody can tell you're a good brother by your little speech just now." Sora continued quietly as she shot jets of energy from spot to spot. "And yes, I understand. We'll take care of him. Whether they like it, or-" She took a quick glare at Cody. "-not."

Sora wasn't able to see anything besides the process in TK's body, but she knew that Matt was smiling ever-so-slightly after that.

###

Izzy and Tai hung around the fringes of the forest, looking warily at the crater.

"You think they're hostages or what?" Tai mouthed to his strategist, who was scanning the entire procedure.

"I think they're voluntarily cooperating, but we can't be too sure. Knowing these people, it could very well just look voluntary so we would follow through into a trap."

"I doubt Cody would let that slide."

Izzy chuckled. "I do too, that's why I think it's voluntarily."

"Well, I'm going in, what about you?"

"Ugh, you're probably going to go in with a grand entrance."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know, maybe it's because it tells the enemy exactly where you are, makes you waste energy, does nothing to harm the opponent, and it's also much more likely to screw it up and end up in an even more unfavorable position."

"You worry too much." Tai said as he jumped out of the tree, his Tyranno Axe materializing in his right hand. He did a front flip as he fell towards the ground, his ax ablaze. Landing in a thump on the ground, he used his momentum to bring the axe down in a wide fiery arc, causing a fair sized ring of flames to flare up around him.

Tai immediately felt prickling sensation on his neck before the flames even died down. Ahead of him, he could see his team member's mouths agape as they looked behind him.

"Don't move. Just start talking. Are you trying to hurt us?"

"Well…would you believe me if I said no?"

"Probably not."

"Ah…well, I'm the leader of some of the people you got there."

Tai felt the prickling go away as the person behind him lowered his dirk slowly.

"Ok, you may pass."

Izzy swopped down, doing a small loop low in the air before dropping gracefully unto the ground. "You see? Nobody attacked me when I made my entrance, because I didn't scare them."

"Shut up, Izzy." Tai grumbled as they walked towards the giant group of people.

"You know, he has a point. If you just walked in like a normal person, I wouldn't have to try and assassinate you."

"You're just smug because you can do that to me." Tai muttered. He then suffered a lightning fast smack to the head.

"Yep, and I'm not going to let you forget, either." The person said as he walked up to TK, who was still lying on the ground.

"Izzy, who's side are you on?" Tai continued to grumble as Izzy tried to hide his amusement.

###

Jake walked towards Matt, TK, and the unknown girl who kindly decided to heal him. _We lucked out of this one like no tomorrow…_

"So, how's it going, Matt?"

"TK should be able to make a recovery. This girl's sanity might not." Matt reply coolly as the girl's face blew into a red tomato.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY I'M INSANE!"

"My, Matt, why are you being so cruel? And to a lady, no less."

"No crueler then what you did to that spiky-haired guy over there. And this person isn't a girl, it's a boy in disguise. I mean, seriously, what kind of girl plays soccer AND tennis?"

"What the… WHAT ARE YOU, A STALKER?"

"Maybe you could avoid wearing a sweatband around your wrist next time, or those nice new tennis shoes, or maybe that old soccer junior varsity T-shirt you're wearing right now." Matt closed his eyes and folded his arms behind his head as the other girl exploded.

"ARE YOU SEXIST OR SOMETHING? THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH WOMEN PLAYING SPORTS! YEAH, THAT'S IT, YOU'RE SEXIST AND YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS THAT I CAN KICK YOUR ASS IN SPORTS…"

"Well, Matt, good luck…I hope you have enough money for ear surgery later. I know I don't, so I'm going to bounce right now."

Jake began to walk away, but he almost got shoved aside by a girl who proceeded to jump Matt.

"I finally figured out who you are! You're that lead singer in the Teenage Wolves! Did you know I'm you're biggest fan!" The girl squealed as Matt quickly rolled aside and jumped to his feet, looking hysterically for a way out.

"What are you talking about?" Matt tried to bluff, quite pathetically, and jumped aside again from a flying tackle.

The girl got up from the dirt and wagged her finger at him. "Nu-uh! Don't lie to me, I know when people try to lie!"

"…Shit…" With that, Matt ran for it.

"PLEASE! COME BACK! I WANT YOUR AUTOGRAAAAAAAAAAPH!"

"I keep telling Matt he needed a disguise…" Jake shook his head as he watched Matt run around the crater, dodging through people in an attempt to escape his assailent.

"Please! Just ONE autograph!" Mimi called out as she circled around Davis, who fell onto the ground in laughter.

"Oh…man…if this is what it's like now…I've gotta find a way to sic my sister onto him…ahahaha!"

Sora watched the proceedings with disproval on her face "Hmph. Of course. What do you expect from rock stars…"

"Aw, don't be like that, girl. He only acts like that because he thinks that makes his rock-star status less obvious."

"Are you kidding? That makes no sense. The way he's acting now is almost exactly how some rock stars act."

"Well…let's just say nobody had the heart to tell him he's wrong…or, should I say, nobody wanted to cut off one source of entertainment." Jake said mischievously.

"But really, don't be so hard on the poor guy. He cares for the people that matter to him. Plus, he understands us. All of us. And considering the fact that he hangs out with some of the most secretive people I've ever met, that's saying something."

Sora frowned. "Are you one of them?"

"That I am." Jake turned and started walking to the other fallen bodies. "But who cares about that?"

Sora stared at him quizzically as he left, then turned her attention back onto Matt, who was still running around from his assailent.

"He IS devilishly handsome, isn't he?"

_Well, he isn't BAD looking…wait…what?_

"What the…WHO SAID THAT!"

Jake snickered as he continued walking.

###

Tai sat there, just watching and waiting over his sister.

"Your sister?" Ken sits down next to him.

"Yeah."

"Looks like she got banged up pretty badly."

"Yeah."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to stop saying 'yeah?'"

"Maybe."

"Ok, you're still here with us."

"Yeah."

Ken throws his hand up in the air. He spots Jake walking up to them, and motions him over.

"Jake, I hope you have some ideas, because this guy's been saying 'yeah' to everything I said."

"Fine, fine, fine…you always give me the tough jobs."

"That's because I always feel too lazy to think at times like these."

"…right…" Jake sits down on Tai's other side.

"You know, it's funny, we haven't learned anyone's name here yet. Since you're the leader, would you mind pointing them out?"

Tai doesn't say anything. Sensing his hesitation, Jake pressed on.

"We're not your enemies anymore. Don't you think everything we've done so far is enough to prove that?"

A bout of silence passed. Jake mad to stand up again, but Tai's voice stops him.

"I'm Taichi Kamiya. Preferably Tai."

He pointed to his sister. "Hikari, but we all call her Kari."

He then pointed to the girl who Jake and matt decided to bother earlier. "That's Sora Takenouchi… man, she looks pissed… what's with the look on your face?"

"Nothing, nothing…" Jake began whistling.

"Huh…I bet you had something to do with it…" Tai sighs.

"Either way, I'm just going to sit here and wait until Kari finally wa-"

**Hey, is anyone here?**

Tai freezes as he hears the probe in his mind.

"You heard that, didn't you?" Ken noted.

"Well, apparently, we all did." Jake replied, scanning the crater as he watched everybody come to attention.

**I think I've gone blind...and I can't feel anything, either…and I try to speak, but I can't here anything…**

"Kari, that is you, right?" Tai asks shakily.

**No, it's the Tooth Fairy. Yes, it's me, brother.**

"Well…your eyes aren't open…?" Tai said as he inspected Kari's body.

**What? I thought I opened them.**

"…Kari, that's your name, right?" Ken asks thoughtfully

**Yeah.**

"Lift your right arm for me." He instructs.

**O…K…**

Several moments passed, but she didn't do anything.

"Did you lift your right arm?" Ken asks after a while.

_Of course she didn't! Why are you asking! _Was the words flying inside Tai's head.

**I'm pretty sure I did…**

"…shit…"

**Is something wrong?**

"…Kari, we don't see you doing anything except lying here."

By then, Izzy had stepped up and put his hand over Kari's forehead. He closed his eyes, thinking carefully.

"Um…Izzy…why are you checking her like she has a fever?" Tai asked in worry.

"I have synergy with electricity. I can sense electricity in anything. If it's there, I can feel it. Even if it's in humans."

"What? Why…?"

"Nervous system." Joe had already woken up, and he was treating Yolei's exhaustion before the incident. "The human body uses electricity for the nerves to work."

"Exactly. The nervous system is necessary to touch, to feel, and to make yourself move. They rely on using electric signals to transmit messages back and forth between the nerve cells and the brain."

By then, everybody has gathered around the fallen bodies, listening to the lecture.

"I sense a huge 'but' coming." Lily grumbled.

"Pretty much." Izzy concurred. "I was not able to sense any type of electric energy inside Kari's body, except at the head, where her brain is still working. That's why I made sure to check the forehead, so I made sure that her brain is still up and running properly. Wouldn't want any brain damage after all. But that's probably the least of our problems now."

There was a silence as everybody tried to digest what that meant. Some people, like Joe and Ken, already figured it out and looked stony-faced.

"So, exactly what does that mean?" Athena finally piqued up.

"A, she's paralyzed." Ken concluded. "Completely paralyzed."

Another silence descended upon the group, but this one was much more short-lived, quickly being cut by a voice in the shadows.

"How interesting. Mind if we crash the party?"

###

**Alright, time for some news.**

**I'm going to have to take a month long vacation to some other country. Now, the problem is, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to access from there, and I really don't want to put this off any longer than necessary. I have a few ideas, worst coming to wrost being that I give Descending Dream access to my account so I can send her the chapters via email and she could post them on for me (Thank god I still have access to writing materials there...)**

**Anyways, should that happen, she will be writing the headings and stuff for my chapters. But what I really want to warn you is if she decides to mess around with my profile or something. If you see something related to sheeps or bunnies or hugs, please disregard. Thank you.**

**I'll try to squeeze in one last update before I have to go on Tuesday. Wish me luck, because I don't think I'm going to make it.**


	13. Chapter 12

IQman2000: I'm pretty good at math, but it doesn't take a genius to know 2-3 days =/= 11-12 days...ugh, somebody slap me. On the plus side, I can at least access Fanfiction without any problems here, so Descending Dream does not get a chance to mess around with my account.

**Descending Dream: Hmph. I had it all planned out, too. I was going to change your name to "EgoManiac2000" and...**

**IQman2000: ... anyways, sorry for the late update, it's pretty busy at this end over here. And Descending Dream seems to continue to have an inability to edit the last chapter.**

**Descending Dream: But I'm too busy wallowing in my loneliness to edit! Maybe if you send me more emails...**

**IQman2000: Only if you edit the chapter.**

**Descending Dream: But I'm feeling too saaaaaaaaaad! D:**

**IQman2000: ...fine.**

**Descending Dream: Yay! :D**

… **hey guuuys. Descending Dream / Loveliness Decays here. I just wanted to let you know that EgoManiac2000 **does not **own Digimon.**

Chapter 12

_People just go along and continue their lives normally without knowing when the world's in imminent crisis._

Willis slowly walked back to the lunchroom as he pondered this thought. He had never truly given it much thought, but the fate of the Digital World actually tied in quite nicely with the well-being of the human world as well.

_Civilization as we know it relies so heavily on technology… If the Digital World falls, all the computers in the world may go berserk. And how many things are under a computer's control? _

…_I don't know, maybe half of the heavy weaponry in the world's military?_

He shook his head and checked the time. _Ten more minutes 'till class._

Frowning, he thought of the newcomer who popped up so suddenly into the grand scheme of things. _Will they make it before class starts? It'll be problematic if they end up half an hour late with no plausible explanation._

He frowned got deeper as another thought crossed his mind. _If they return at all._

"Hey, Willis!" Tom waved Willis to sit by the table where he and Jason were seated.

"What's up?" Willis slid onto the bench besides Tom as Jason continued to devour his sandwich.

"Nothing much, I just spent twenty minutes watching Jason go through a sandwich marathon," Tom said airily as Jason paused in his assault on his sandwich.

"I'm trying to set a new personal record!" Jason sputtered – or attempted to sputter, but with a full mouth, it was completely distorted: "M rying oo wet uh mew pwerona wecor!"

Willis looked at Jason, who was waving his hands in an irritation. He raised an eyebrow at what he thought was rather questionable behavior.

Jason forced down his sandwich before continuing to speak. "I mean, get it right before you start speaking about this to other people, won't you?"

"What's the difference?" Tom asked, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, your personal record is as relevant as your ass at the moment. We've got more important things to discuss… like the new kid."

"Fine," Jason grumbled as he put down his sandwich. "We might as well."

"So, Willis, is that the kid you're looking for?" Tom asked as he quickly scooped up the half eaten sandwich and hurled it into the nearest trash can, ignoring Jason's infuriated glare.

"Yep." Willis sighed as he dug his hands into his pocket. "I can't say I'm really doing my job well, though. I was supposed to help any one of the 'traitors' to fit in with the current Digidestined so that the two groups might end up on the same side of the field. But no. We had to have an attack that threatens to kill off more than half of the Digidestined and forces TK to jump into the DigiWorld in an attempt to save them. Gennai might screw over the computers in my house after this, but that's not important… not with lives at stake."

"… it's a tough life, huh?" Jason noted, and folded his arms behind his head.

"Hey, you guys wouldn't even know any of this if it wasn't for the fact that you were my friends and I needed _somebody_ who wouldn't think my brain fell out of my head to spill the beans to so I _won't_ think I'm crazy," Willis said indignantly.

"Yeah, we know. We're just your therapists." Tom laughed. "If you're so worried, why wouldn't you go help?"

"Sure, I can help. It's not like the only thing I'm capable of is shooting green blasts from my hand," Willis said, and rolled his eyes. "Truthfully, a green blast is not going to do much against the people they're fighting. Your attacks have to be much stronger than that to get anywhere."

"... well, at least you _can_ do something unlike the two of us, who can't even play basketball properly." Jason yawned as he fished inside his bag for another sandwich.

Willis only said wryly, " I have no idea how you manage to stay thin if you eat that much."

"Skills, my friend. It's on par with Tom's preferences to leave out facts and your green blasts of doom," Jason said, voice deadpan.

Tom slammed his head into the table a few times before speaking.

"Don't push yourself too much, Willis. We all can only do what we can. It sucks a lot of the time, but… you get used to it."

"Apparently that means we all have to help from the freaking sidelines," Willis muttered.

"That's right," Jason said cheerfully before he bit into his sandwich.

Willis dropped his head onto the table.

###

"… can I say no?" Jake asked.

"No."

"Thought so."

"Come on, Myotismon, can we just cut the chit-chat and just get started already?" A strange ape jumped out of the foliage and landed in front of the Digidestined, his hands on his hips.

"B-b-but then we have to laugh at your stupid face!" Jake said, and pointed his finger at the ape.

The ape's face swelled up and became red. "MY FACE IS NOT STUPID? NO PART OF THE GREAT ETEMON IS EVER STUPID!" he yelled. Steam whistled out of his ears.

"Thank you for introducing yourself. Can you please leave so we do not have to see your dorky faced mug with the horrible Elvis haircut? Trust me, the shades don't help either."

"My, my, Etemon. He's playing you the way Mozart plays the piano. Maybe you should take a session in anger management," the first voice said, clearly amused if the chuckle in his voice was any indication.

"Myotismon, please get out of the forest. Your vampire presentation at least looks a lot better than that ape's stupid face… especially since you don't sparkle."

"That's nice, Jake. However, I'm afraid flattery will not make your suffering any more pleasant."

_Please tell me they're preparing to escape. Most of them are going to be slaughtered if they stay._

Jake knew there was nothing he could do but stall for time so they could ensure their safety.

_Once they attack, this crater is going to turn into a war zone. And there will be many more craters._

So Jake kept talking.

"Don't be a spoilsport… come out of the forest already."

###

Lily began to search for the leader of the other group as soon as she heard the voice come out of the forest. She spotted a mess of spiky brown hair into the ground and quietly slipped off towards it. From the corner of her eye, she saw Matt and Ken do the same.

"Alright, we need to talk," Lily said, voice quiet, and she walked up to the boy with the messy brown hair.

Another person, at least a head shorter than the first, turned towards them in curiosity.

"What's there to talk about?" Spike Head muttered. "They're probably going to attack us as soon as that person runs out of things to say, and if what Devimon said is true – and sadly, it probably is – then we're going to last about ten seconds."

"Not if Lily and Jake have anything to say about it," Matt said in reply.

"What? You guys can take them on? By _yourselves_?" the short kid asked, incredulous.

"They'll manage. Lily and Jake are quite strong," Ken shot back.

"We'll take your word for it. But what about the rest of us? We can't stay and act as cannon fodder."

"Listen, Spike-head. You're going to take you crew to some location where it's safe to open a portal back to Earth. We'll contact you later, perhaps at four o'clock, hopefully when school's out."

"First of all, this 'Spike-head' has a name. It's Tai. Second, my sister's paralyzed right now, and I don't think giving my parents a heart attack when the school calls to inform them their daughter has mysteriously got all her nerves shot is exactly a good idea, especially since then they're going to investigate and find out about our powers, turning us all into potential military weapons. Third… how the hell are you supposed to contact us?"

"You actually have a brain in your head, Spike… what a wonder. It's probably the size of a pea, though… shame."

"My brain is at least larger than yours."

"Hah, who would want to be - "

"Would the two of you please shut up?" Matt hissed, and slapped the two of them upside the head. "Don't worry about any of that… uh, Tai, right? Ken took care of the contact information. He managed to catch a glimpse of you guys sending messages with your Digivices and memorized the contact code, so he'll be able to send a message to that particular person – if I recall correctly, it was the girl with red hair and the soccer shirt. Was that the one, Ken?"

"Yeah. Don't worry. It's clear as day."

"Good. Now, as for your sister…let's just say we have access to a certain plane of existence that lies in the DigiWorld. Time moves incredibly fast there; an hour there is probably about twenty seconds back on Earth. The old man should be able to spend … how much time does he have, Ken?"

"I think about two and a half weeks by four back on Earth."

"I'm pretty sure the old man would think of something to help your sister by then. Trust me… he can perform miracles on demand."

"… Izzy, what do you think?"

"… I'm still not sure if we can trust them, but they haven't done anything so far. We might as well take their word for it."

"You know…I think I want to cut class today." Matt thought for a moment. "I can manage. I've done it before. Obviously, my bro is more of a pressing matter than academics."

"I think we all better cut class, actually," Lily said, sighing. "You guys follow Spike-hea – pardon, Tai. Once you get there, sneak out of the school, mingle with the students… just make sure you don't raise any suspicion. Stay with them until we manage to leave. We'll give you a call when we do, alright?"

"I guess memorizing the code was a waste, then…" Ken muttered.

"Just out of curiosity, what do you remember?" Izzy asked.

"I think the address was… 720-11."

"…he's right…" Izzy muttered, surprised.

"People call Ken a prodigy for a reason…" Lily grumbled, sighing.

"Wait… Ken as in Ichijouji?" Tai asked, suddenly brighter.

"I have no idea why your face is glowing all of a sudden. Your sister's paralyzed and we all might die, but… yeah."

"So _you're_ that soccer genius everybody's been talking about. My team is totally going to crush yours!"

"… I'm not in charge of any team… I'm a freshman in high school, acting like every other high school student…" Ken began to mutter.

"Can we please focus here?" Izzy pleaded. "We'll be out in fifteen minutes tops. You guys can make a break for it by then, alright?"

"Spread the word. We'll be able to see you again… hopefully. Ken, if you have time, kick Spike-head's ass in soccer for me, will you?"

"Shut up and leave my hair alone, damn it!"

###

"You're skilled in stalling, Jake. But you can stop now. Your comrades are done speaking amongst themselves."

"… your point being?"

"Well…" Myotismon looked at the back of his hand in thought. "I think now would be a nice time to end this charade."

He suddenly waved the hand he was looking at towards Jake, sending a wave of darkness towards him. There was no chance to gasp before the wave reached Jake, engulfing him in an explosion.

"YES! Time to rumble!" Etemon crowed as he leapt towards his nearest target, which turned out to be Cody.

Cody growled in response as his Drill Lance materialized in his hands, and quickly he jabbed it towards the approaching ape's face.

Etemon cocked his head to one side as the lance swooshed past his head. Moving forward, he aimed one fist square at Cody's chest in an uppercut.

Cody tried to move aside, but deep down, he knew he simply wasn't moving fast enough. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the hit.

A loud clang sounded as Cody opened his eyes, confused. _Why haven't I been hurt?_

Lily pushed off the ground with the foot on the ground, viciously spinning her body around so the other foot, previously in a leg block against Etemon's fist, whipped towards his face, neatly catching his jaw with the blow.

"Look, kid… don't let your sense of justice consume you. Just run. Staying alive is more important," Lily ordered as she crouched between Cody and the furious ape, who was quickly clambering back to his feet.

"Why should I listen to you? You're not exactly - "

"It doesn't matter what you think of us!" Lily exploded. "You can't serve 'justice' if you're dead, dammit! Now GO!"

Cody hesitated, his mind considering the words she said. _That statement does have logical sense… fine, I'll listen just this once._

Cody backed away wordlessly before running off into the forest; the others were already a good way ahead of him.

Lily sighed in relief as she heard him go. _Such a stubborn boy, and so untrusting of us, too._

"You're taking the pain instead of the boy, I see. It doesn't matter. Somebody is going to get hurt, and I don't care who," Etemon growled as he got up from the floor and began circling around Lily menacingly.

"Are you so sure? I agree that somebody is going to get hurt today. And it ain't going to be me," Lily shot back. "Now tell me, how does your jaw feel? You might need a dentist after getting hit by a metal object with such force."

"Go to hell, bitch!" Etemon roared as he charged.

"That 'bitch' is going to smash her greaves into your face."

###

"Oh dear. Etemon really does need some anger management. I'll have to look into that later," Myotismon said just as a yawn ripped through his jaws. "But first, I have to deal with the escaping pests. Am I the only one doing any work here?"

"Hey, you're the one working, dude! Blame yourself. And you should pay more attention to me, not to the people running away." Jake drew his dagger and flipped them in his hands so that they were pointed downwards as he leaped towards his adversary.

Myotismon smoothly jumped aside as Jake's knife whistled through the air. "My my. You seem awfully off today, Jake. What's wrong?"

Jake planted one foot on the ground and jumped off it towards the direction Myotismon dodged, spinning as he did so, his blades now a gyro of death.

Jake's other dagger plunged deep into Myotismon's chest, only for Jake to watch in mild surprise as Myotismon's body turned into a swarm of bats, which swarmed themselves onto him.

_Focus._

Everything around Jake slowed to a crawl as Jake's brow furrowed in concentration. The bats moved through the air as if thick liquid; leaves were suspended in mid-air, and the voices all sounded too prolonged.

Jake smiled grimly and brought his daggers close to him. The dagger blades began to glow a pulsing blue and elongate itself.

In the end, Jake held not two daggers, but two dirks.

Jake jumped from his position, spinning his body with his dirks outstretched, cutting through the bats like butter as they stayed almost frozen in the air. He pointed his dirks towards the ground and he began to drop, forcing the dirks into the ground as he landed in a crouch.

"Falcon Impact!"

A giant electric blue shockwave erupted from Jake's form, fanning out and blowing back all the remaining bats.

Time quickened to its normal pace as the bats were thrown back from the blasts, their bodies dissipating into strings of data.

Myotismon stood there, nonchalant, clapping his hands slowly.

"Bravo, Jake. Using super-kinetic vision to escape from a swarm of bats… Though I thought it was rather unnecessary."

"It was so you wouldn't pull something behind my back while I was busy," Jake shot back.

"Oh, but I already have. Unlike Devimon, who preferred to operate by himself, and use dark gears to bend random Digimon to his will, I _do _have henchmen. And I sent a few of them to eliminate them should I be… tied down with something."

Jake's eyes flashed towards his left as he noted movement in that direction.

_Shit! That's an assault force right there. Phantomon, SkullMeramon, a small army of Bakemon…I don't know if they can survive an assault like that._

Jake quickly focused his mind again, slowing down time as he flitted to the strike force. _I've got to at least eliminate SkullMeramon, though Phantomon would be better._

A fist flew towards his face, startling him but not breaking his concentration. Jake dropped down and slid under the fist, jackknifing back to his feet afterwards. He twisted his body in mid-air as he did so, spinning to face his assailant.

Another fist flew towards him, but this time aimed towards the stomach. Jake jumped back as he saw Myotismon do a vicious spinning jump uppercut in the space he was standing in just a moment ago.

_Why does everybody copy moves from Street Fighter? More importantly, how the hell is he keeping up with me in this state?_

Jake leaped at Myotismon as he started to land on the ground, swiping his dirk at him. Myotismon kicked his arm away in midair, spinning with the momentum to drive his other foot to the side of Jake's head.

Jake ducked as the foot whooshed past his head. He quickly jumped into a standing position again, swinging one dirk up in a uppercut swipe he did so.

Myotismon jumped to the left, neatly dodging the strike, and responded with a mid-air kick to the stomach. Jake backflipped away quickly before he had to suffer the assault.

Jake landed only to see a whip of red energy swinging down towards him. He rolled forward as the whip smashed the ground he was standing on to dust.

He jumped out of his roll, crossing his arms as he continued moving at Myotismon.

"Avian Wave!"

Jake slashed both of his dirks outwards, sending twin cutter-shaped blasts towards Myotismon. Myotismon smiled as they approached. He brought his cape over him before swinging it back out and sending out a wave of still bats.

The blasts crashed into the bats, causing two pillars of compressed air and smoke to form. Jake stopped moving, unsure of where Myotismon went.

The bats couldn't move, but they still had served their purpose well: to shield Myotismon.

Jake widened his eyes as he saw something out of the corner of his eye and he whirled around… to have a fist fly into his face.

Jake flew back from the blow; the speed of the outside world returned to normal again as his concentration finally broke. He crashed into the ground and rolled backwards.

Jake threw one dirk into the air as he planted the hand that was holding it onto the ground, flipping himself back onto his feet. Jake caught the dirk that was flying through the air.

"Jake, it truly wounds me that you should underestimate me so…" Myotismon chided as he walked up to Jake with a calm gait. "Did you really think I would be so slow as to be stopped by your parlor tricks? I'm quite fast, in case you haven't noticed by now… fast enough to give you trouble even as you see everything in slow motion."

"…"

"Speechless?"

Jake smiled grimly. "I am scared… but not of you. I'm scared of me."

"Really?" The reply was deadpan.

"Frankly, I don't really like to use my Ultimate form. But you _are_ forcing my hand, so I guess I have no choice."

With that, Jake clasped his hands together, bringing the two dirks right next to each other. He slipped himself into a fighting stance as an electric blue pillar of light shot up into the sky from where he was standing, engulfing him completely.

Myotismon shielded his eyes from the light; the brightness was too much for him to bear.

The light finally died down, revealing Jake, who was now wearing a light brown robe over his clothes (very akin to the ones the Jedi wore in Episode I-III.)

In his hand, he held a katana with a blade of a faint light blue.

He spun his blade around as he shifted his stance, his blade now held at the far side of his body, away from Myotismon.

"The thing is… I have no idea if I can control the power of my Thunderbird Murasame properly."

###

"Come on, Cody… you have to move!"

Izzy dove down and grabbed the straggler before soaring back up again, his jetpack whining under the added weight.

Cody was set back down to the floor after Izzy quickly caught up with the rest of the group. "I got the straggler, move faster."

"Gotcha." Tai quickened his pace, forcing everybody to do the same. Cody looked around and saw that the intruders were – sadly - still with them.

Ken was looking back towards the battlefield, his face pale for some reason. "Move farther… a lot farther! And faster… a lot faster!" he yelled hysterically.

Matt heard Ken yell out this warning and his face cringed. _Shit, don't tell me one of you... then again, it's not surprising. Too bad neither Jake nor Lily have perfect control over their Ultimate forms… they must be in a pretty deep hole to pull that out._

"We should be perfectly fine here. Why should we move farther?" Izzy asked, even though everybody was still running.

"If it could be guaranteed they would retain their Champion forms, yes, we would be safe. But if one of them goes Ultimate, anything within about a mile here is under threat," Matt responded as he dragged Izzy back into the group. "They don't have a very good hold over their power. In fact, when they go into Ultimate, they release a huge amount of energy that turns into a pillar of light that shoots into the sky."

"Yeah, and Jake's pillar of light just shot into the sky, so… keep moving," Ken, huffing, instructed.

" You're saying both of them can release _that_ much energy? Do you know how much power that is? That beam probably had a higher energy concentration than any one of us in Champion form! How strong _are_ these people?" Izzy asked in amazement.

"Izzy, we can worry about that later. Right now, just listen to them and move!" Sora scooped up the smaller boy and ran ahead with him.

"Let me go! I'm not a five year old…mmmmph!"

"Well, he might be short enough to be one…" Matt pondered.

"Don't be silly, Matt."

"Was that really Jake releasing his Ultimate form? No fair!" Athena wailed. "They never showed _me_ that! Why'd they show you two?"

"Actually, they never showed us either. They just told us to gather everyone out and move if they should ever release it in a real battle situation…" Ken muttered.

"But still! You knew! I really want to see what they can do in Ultimate… It would be so cool! They'll probably be super strong and everything!" Athena thought aloud, eyes sparkling.

"Athena, do you ever think about anything besides fighting, food, and Jake's relationship status?" Matt questioned seriously.

"Nope!"

"…"

"Hey, you led her into that answer. You really fell for that like an amateur."

"… oh, shut up. Wait, did you see that?"

Ken and Athena paused, scanning their surroundings. Athena frowned. "I didn't see anything…"

Ken, however, frowned as a bunch of needles appeared in his hands. "I didn't either, but something seems off."

"Hey, why are you guys lagging? You're the one who told us to move out faster in the first place!" Tai yelled at them.

Ken's eyes widened as a Bakemon zoomed towards the back of Tai's head.

Tai stared back. "What are you staring at? Let me tell you now: I don't swing that way… no matter what some others might say."

"Duck!"

Tai, somewhat startled, dropped his head down - the Bakemon's flying tackle whooshed over his head. More Bakemons appeared, forming a circle around the group.

Ken rushed for the stray Bakemon lying on the ground and stuck his needles into various places of the Bakemon's body. He stepped back slowly then, watching the Bakemon's body quickly turn into a bunch of green mush.

"Well, well… so here's the rest of the little pests."

Matt turned to the sound of the voice, hidden in the cover of the forest. He sniffed the air cautiously and his eyes widened.

_Phantomon. Damn. And I think the other one 's name was SkullMeramon…I can't make out any other smells, they reek too much, but I think it's safe to say it's just them and a pretty large force of Bakemon._

"What's this? Is this a trap?" Tai whirled upon the three people still together in the back.

"If it was, we didn't set it. Otherwise, Ken wouldn't have saved your head from a concussion and killed the Bakemon. And we would be attacking you right about now, not having idle chatter with you," Matt replied slowly.

"Oh, no worries. Those people truly haven't done you any harm. Not that it matters after I'm done with you," the voice cackled.

"Phantomon, is that you?" Athena called into the forest.

"Maybe it is… maybe it isn't. Why do you ask?"

"Oh… I was going to ask if you were still short, if you _we_r_e_ Phantomon," Athena confessed innocently.

"…you won't be making such smart comments about my height soon enough, girl," the voice replied haughtily. "And don't try to track me by my voice, as some of you have been doing. I'm always on the move for a reason."

Matt lowered his arm at that, his hand engulfed by a cannon that was shaped and designed like the head of a Garurumon. Yolei, Joe, and Ken lowered their weapons as well, while Izzy stuffed his hands into his pockets in frustration.

"Did you really think I would fall to such a basic tactic? Pathetic. SkullMeramon, you may go get them."

A huge hulking humanoid meandered out of the trees, easily twice the height of the tallest person there.

He stared down at the Digidestined, his mouth curving into a sneer.

"All troops, attack!" he rumbled before tanking towards them.

###

_Where does he keep all of these banana peels?_

Lily planted her hand onto the floor for the umpteenth time as that thought ran through her head, vaulting over Etemon's assault after successfully making her slip on a banana peel yet again.

"So you dodge another one of my attacks yet again. No matter. You'll tire sooner or later, girl, and then I'll get you," Etemon gloated.

_Unfortunately, he has a point. Sooner or later, I'm going to screw up… and then I'll be monkey food._

Suddenly, Lily felt an extremely sharp rise in focus level around her. _What the…that's not Jake using his super-kinetic vision, that's for sure._ _But then…_

Lily saw a huge pillar of blue light fly into the clouds. _…we're all in trouble now._

"What the hell is that?" Etemon yelled as he pointed his finger at the pillar.

"Oh, that was just my friend going Ultimate. I can give you a demonstration too if you want."

_I might as well…if Jake went Ultimate, the only way I'm going to get out of the destruction is if I turn to Ultimate as well._

Lily stood up straight as her figure was surrounded by magenta light before the light exploded outwards in all directions. Even Etemon, wearing his shades, was momentarily blinded.

Lily sported a pair of magenta visor-like sunglasses. Her newly bright red hair flew around wildly, the ends of it flicked with sparks of energy. The greaves on her legs now looked futuristic, a sleek design colored a neon red.

Lily looked back at Etemon, who was busy trying to figure out what was going on as he stared at Lily. "What? Were you expecting fan service? Perv. You need to be adequately punished."

Etemon's eyes widened as he felt a blow to the back of his head in the next split second, sending him toppling over. He quickly dropped a few banana peels in her direction as he fell, but this time, Lily jumped up and over the peels before axe kicking his back.

Etemon barely managed to roll away as Lily's kick created a small crater, sending debris into the sky. He jumped back before Lily continued her assault.

"Time for my performance!" he screeched before taking out a microphone and started singing into it.

Lily had heard some Elvis songs before, and she didn't think they were that great. It was bearable, but nothing special in her opinion. But Etemon just made them sound utterly horrible. She sank to her knees, covering her ears to try and protect myself from the noise.

Etemon smirked. Without stopping his horrendous singing, he raised his other palm in the direction of Lily's kneeling figure, a dark energy orb appearing in his hand.

_You're finished._

###

"Why does this shit keep happening to us?"

Tai roared loudly as he swung his axe through yet another Bakemon. He spun around, using the momentum to swing his axe through another two victims. "Stop stalking us, damn it!"

"I wonder if he really knows what he's saying right now… we've been wrecking havoc on their plans for a while. Of course they're going to try and kill us," Sora muttered as she swung her fan, burning a group of Bakemon to cinders.

"You missed one," Matt noted as he blasted the remaining one with his Wolf Vulcan. "And he seems perfectly fine to me. Being incoherent is a perfectly normal part of combat."

"Does that mean that if I hurt you right now, I can blame it on my incoherent behavior?" Sora raised her Pheonix Wing threateningly.

Matt's eyes widened slightly. _Shit…_

His eyes snapped to the left after that, and he smoothly put his blaster behind his back, sniping off a trio of Bakemon that was about to pounce on them.

"Well, you didn't notice those three, so, yes, I guess you are incoherent right now."

"Bastard."

They both ducked after that as a wave of shurikens whizzed over them and impaled themselves into another batch of Bakemon.

"Great… I wake up while we're running for our lives and then we get ambushed. What a wonderful wake-up call," Yolei muttered as another batch of shurikens appeared in her hands.

###

Izzy, Mimi, and Cody were occupied with SkullMeramon, who was randomly waving around his fists and trying to hit them.

Izzy just ducked and swerved around the behemoth with his jetpack, acting like an annoying mosquito as he continuously shocked SkullMeramon in various places.

Mimi and Cody busied themselves with striking at SkullMeramon's lower body, but none of them were really having much success at any attack.

"Drill Rush!" Cody launched another missile from his lance and hit SkullMeramon squarely in the chest. A cloud of dust appeared and spread away… only to show that his chest wasn't even scratched.

"Ugh, this is so annoying…does this guy feel any pain?" Cody groaned.

"Apparently not," Izzy said grimly.

"So why am I punching this thing?" Mimi asked.

Izzy sighed. "Exercise. Keep going."

"Okay!"

###

Phantomon watched the proceedings with disdain. _Hmph, useless Bakemon…seems like I need to send out more fighters as always._

He raised his scythe into the air and two portals appeared on the floor at either side of him. Slowly, two beasts appeared out of the portals. One looked like a T-Rex with black skin; another looked like a rip-off of Scyther.

"DarkTyrannomon, Snimon, you know what to do." He cackled. The beasts rumbled their assent as they turned towards the battlefield.

"Leave none of the Digidestined alive."

###

"What the heck are _those_ things?" Joe yelled.

_Damn it. Phantomon sent even more goons after us. It's too bad he hid his presence really well, I can't even smell him._ Matt thought as he ran towards Joe's voice.

"Oh, come on!" Ken yelled as he saw what 'those things' were.

Izzy had flown to a safe spot on a branch and taken out his laptop, typing furiously. "Shit… SkullMeramon, Snimon, and DarkTyrannomon are all Ultimate leveled Digimon… we're in trouble." He folded his laptop and stored it back into his Digivice. No amount of information was truly going to help – it was painfully clear that they were completely outmatched.

Davis looked around as he lowered his Flamberge Bracelet. "I guess he ran out of cannon fodder… shit."

"YAY! Strong opponents for once!" Athena made to charge at them, but Matt dragged her back by the collar.

"Athena, at the VERY least come up with a strategy before jumping into this!"

"Matt, of course I have a strategy! Otherwise I won't be running in!"

_I really might regret doing this._

Matt reluctantly let go of Athena's shirt as she eagerly charged up to the nearest victim, the Snimon.

He hissed in anticipation as he waited for the arrival of his next meal. As she came within reach, the Snimon quickly slashed in her direction with his blades, but all he hit was a metal rod.

Athena was already in the air after using her spear to pole vault herself up. She flipped herself forward, aligning her feet with the ground before landing on the Snimon's face.

The Snimon staggered back in surprise as Athena pushed off his face hard before backflipping in the air away from the Snimon. Matt, who followed behind Athena in the case that something did happen to the girl, took this opportunity to attack. Blue flames appeared out of the wolf's maw as he charged, molding itself into a blade-like shape.

Matt jumped and slashed his blade downward, attempting to cleave the Snimon in half. But the Snimon had other plans as it moved back a little more, still in a bit of a daze. Matt only succeeded in a fairly deep cut over the Snimon's body. Not yet finished, though, Matt returned the flames back into their original form as he pointed his arm cannon at the wound while the Snimon screamed in outrage.

"Fox Fire!"

A huge burst of blue fire blasted itself onto the wound, making the Snimon scream in agony. Matt scrambled back as the Snimon waved his arms wildly, trying to cut Matt with his blades.

"I picked that one up after playing a bit of Tales of Symphonia. I can't believe it worked that well… too well," Matt mumbled.

"Well, it worked, right?" Athena asked in an unsure voice as they looked at the Snimon, who was now stalking up to them very menacingly.

"If you mean 'we got him really pissed' as 'worked,' then yes, it worked."

"… oh."

###

**I'm sorry if the writing seems rather raw and the grammar sucks; my editor's been slacking off lately and she likes to make my writing a little more graceful. But hey, at least now you get authentic writing!**

**Oh, and I'm sorry for the continued cliffhangers. I'm sure they'll finally get out of this dump by the next chapter... (watch me eat my words...)**

_Few minutes later..._

**Descending Dream: I'm not slacking off, I'm just feeling too sad! D: D: D:**

**... hey there. Descending Dream (now Loveliness Decays) here. As of 3 September, 2011, this is finally updated! & EgoManiac2000 **never **portrays me in an authentic light, even if you get 'authentic' writing when I'm not around.  
>PS: I edited your author's note too.<br>xoxo loveliness decays**

**^LIES, ALL LIES! –IQMan2000**


	14. Chapter 13

**I seriously need to upload faster...ugh...**

**Well, here's the next chapter. I'm too lazy to include any convo between me and Descending Dream... I mean, loveliness decays. Why did you change your name...?**

**Special thanks to canuck72, who made that very accurate observation about the Digimon levels from the previous chapter (I said all of them were Ultimate, where only SkullMeramon was Ultimate and the other two were Champion). I considered fixing it, but then I decided an explanation in one of the later chapters would be a bit better. Don't worry, everything would be cleared up in the end.**

**Oh, and I forgot to do this all those other times, but sometimes, I will make reference to other things, fanmade or not. If I do, I will make the claim now that all quotes and stuff belong to their respective owners.**

Chapter 13

_My life as a teenage rock star is filled with people chasing me, but I had no need to add a freaking mutant grasshopper to the list._

Matt rolled behind yet another tree as the Snimon diced the tree he was hiding behind before the way a chef would dice vegetables for a salad.

Popping out from behind the tree, Matt fired a few blasts at the Snimon, who roared in pain as the fireballs hit their target. He lumbered after Matt in revenge as Matt scampered behind the cover of other pieces of scenery.

Athena suddenly appeared out of the side, leaping onto the Snimon's shoulder and began to stab any body part she could reach.

The Snimon screeched as he flailed about, managing to fling Athena off his shoulder. Athena flew through the air like a ragdoll before she crashed into a tree trunk and slumping down to the ground, beaten and unconscious. The Snimon quickly swarmed to her, happy that he's finally getting a meal.

_…and I have to go bail out her ass yet again…_

Matt ran up to the Snimon's back, praying that what he had in mind would work. His Wolf Vulcan again formed a concentrated blast of flames in a sword-like shape as he jumped right onto the Snimon's back, landing feet-first onto his back as he smoothly cut off the Snimon's right arm before flipping off his back.

The Snimon screeched in agony yet again as he whirled around, looking for the perpetrator, his prey, still lying on the floor, forgotten. He glared at Matt, who was desperately trying to look fierce and brave but not exactly succeeding.

_Well, at the very least I got his attention…_

The Snimon continued to glare at Matt as he raised his stub of a right arm. A new are burst out of that stub, dripping wet of fluids but very much there and functioning. Matt repressed the urge to smack his forehead as he watched the Snimon regenerate his arm.

_Of all the times somebody had to pull a Piccolo on me…_

Matt gulped as the Snimon, now ready with both arms, charged.

Matt began to fire out blasts from his arm cannon, but the Snimon effortlessly deflected each blast with his blades. Matt jumped aside as one arm swung at his neck and manage the push back the other swipe with his makeshift fire blade. Matt turned off the blade again as he pointed the wolf's maw at that already burnt injury on the Snimon's chest.

"Howling Blaster!"

This time, a giant shotgun blast of fire erupted from the maw of the wolf and blasted the Snimon's chest, burning it completely. The Snimon hissed as he tried to suppress the pain, swinging his arm and smacking Matt into a tree.

Matt's head crashed into the trunk and he tried to fight back the blackness that now crept up to the edges of his vision. He dropped to the floor, still trying to fight the cloak of unconsciousness. The Snimon walked slowly towards him, sharpening his arms menacingly.

_No! Must…fight…darkness…I don't wanna become bug food!_

Matt continued to try and keep his eyes open, at least he did until the Snimon unexpectedly started shrieking again. The noise forced his eyes wide open. Scrambling to his feet, he looked up to see what exactly happened to the Snimon.

The Snimon was busy patting down the remnants of the fire on his arm as he glared up in the trees. Matt followed his gaze and saw only a blur of red.

"HAH! You OWE me now, bastard!"

"Oh, it's you." Matt mumbled as Sora suddenly ended up standing next to him, poking his head repeatedly as she continued to torment him.

"Yes, I am SO going to enjoy the torture I'm going to make you go through… hehehe." Sora said wickedly as she began to cook up ideas to make the "bastard" suffer.

"…" Matt was too busy cringing at that thought for him to reply.

The Snimon was getting quite mad about all the pests that were appearing to bother him. He hissed as Sora launched another curtain of flames at him, driving him back. The barrage of blue fireballs that followed did not improve the Snimon's mood.

As Sora continued wavung her fan and sending out those dreaded curtains of fire, the Snimon decided he had enough. He bounced straight up into the air, jumping right over the curtain.

Matt calmly raised his arm cannon up with the now airborn Snimon, still shooting his blasts with frightening accuracy, forcing the Snimon to twist around and block the assaults. The Snimon finally to stop the nuisance by spinning around like a vortex, his blades deflecting all blasts out of his way as he fell out of the sky.

Matt and Sora dived in opposite directions as the Snimon dropped to the ground, smashing one blade into the ground, creating a fissure on impact. Sora rolled to the Snimon's side before bouncing up, swinging the fan again and creating more curtains of fire as the Snimon lumbered towards her, determined to end the annoyance once and for all.

The Snimon loomed over Sora before he looked down in confusion. He stared down as he noted the blade protruding out of his chest, the flickering at the edges of the blue blade betraying its true origin.

The blade dissipated as the Snimon dropped down face first, Matt standing behind him, looking down in mild disdain.

"Bloody little bugger…" Matt muttered as he stepped over the dead insect while he walked towards Athena, who was still out cold. Picking her up with almost no effort, he slung her over his shoulders as if she was taking a piggyback ride on him.

Sora smoothly sauntered up to him, looking at him with a very innocent look on her face. But Matt could see an ominous gleam in her eyes, and he sighed, defeated.

"Alright, alright, you may go ahead and dare me to do any humiliating thing you can think of. But, I get to decide whether or not I find it reasonable. And when I mean reasonable, I mean anything that does not involve any harm to anyone except me, and even then, I only extend my own harm to mild mental or bodily harm."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Trust me, my idea is VERY reasonable…"

And then she began to whisper softly what exactly she wanted him to do. Matt listened closely, his face getting paler and paler by the minute. As Sora finally stopped speaking, Matt's face greatly resembled a ghost's.

As she cheerfully walked away, Matt began muttering to himself. "If I knew this was going to happen to me, I would've let that bugger kill me and be done with it."

"Oh, she's got you around her finger, Matt."

Matt jumped in surprise. "Wh-what?"

"Huh, you didn't get that. Fine, another analogy. You follow her like a lost puppy."

"…first, your analogy sucks. Second, since when was I following anybody? Third, when were you awake?"

"Long enough to hear your little deal. I know you wouldn't do something like that for a-ny-one-else. Does cool-boy Matt really have a crush on someone? Oh, so very interesting!" Athena squealed as she grabbed Matt's neck tighter.

"…sorry to crush your hopes, but there's actually nothing. I'm just paying off a debt. Not exactly my most favorite thing to do, but I have a morality code, unlike some people I know." He gave Athena a pointed glare, which she still easily brushed aside.

"But we saved you a bunch of times, and you never did anything for US in return!" Athena continued to roll.

"…that's because you guys never asked…"

"Oh, stop denying the truth, you should know I have at least three years of practice doing this on Jake and my very beautiful cousin that he should take out on a date…or anything more significant." She smiled wickedly then. "Maybe something of the sort would happen to you as well…"

"…so this is how Jake feels…" Matt facepalmed

###

_This is dangerous. Gotta end it fast._

Jake slid into a crouch as he turned towards Myotismon again, his sword held notched above his head.

Myotismon barely moved before Jake was upon him again, whirling through the air before slashing his blade diagonally at Myotismon's body.

Myotismon jumped high into the air to slip past the attack as the katana struck the ground, causing another explosion as rocks soared through the air.

Jake looked like a blur as he jumped through the air, frontflipping viciously with his sword held out, turning into a wheel of death as he careened towards the vampire-like Digimon.

Myotismon spun through the air as he squeezed himself passed the blades, creating another energy whip to strike Jake with as he spun around.

_Much too slow._

Jake twisted in his flip first, turning back to face Myotismon as he created his whip. He slashed at his opponent, creating a giant wave of electricity.

"Plasma Cut!"

Myotismon's eyes widened as he saw the wave of energy flying towards him. He quickly tried his only way to block the attack.

"Grisly Wing!"

A huge swarm of bats appeared, this time larger than the previous ones and more numerous as well. They formed a shield in front of Myotismon, trying to spare him from the wave.

The wave just cut right through the wall of bats and proceeded to strike Myotismon in the chest, sending him plummeting back to the ground.

Jake focused his thoughts again as everything around him slowed yet again. Forcing his energy to his feet, he twisted so that his head was 45 degrees from the floor, and pumped his legs, forcing the energy out as he rocketed to the floor as well, his feet leaving a trail of compressed steam.

Myotismon began to flip himself rightwards and land on the ground, but he was a little too late, as his body abruptly stopped in midair. Myotismon could only stare at the bloodied metal tip of the blade that was now sticking out of his chest.

Jake stood below the Digimon, his sword held high above him as he pointed it into the air, Myotismon's body just hanging from it. Myotismon only smiled before he dissipated into a crowd of bats that swarmed Jake yet again.

Jake sighed as he held his katana in front of him in a guard position. "Plasma Impulse!"

A force field erupted from his being, spreading out and electrocuting all the bats around him. They dissolved into data strands as they fell to the ground. Jake looked around, trying to figure out where Myotismon went.

"Quite an impressive performance there, Jake. Very well done." The voice drawled behind him.

"You've really got to stop it with the clones made of bats, Myotismon." Jake sighed. "It's getting kind of annoying."

"Not my fault if you can't tell when I switch with my clones even with your super-kinetic vision, dear Jake." Myotismon chuckled. "It's just a sleight of hand, nothing drastic." He paused for a moment, taking a quick glance to his side. "Oh, speaking of performances, I think Etemon is about to start his soon enough. The music is quite horrendous, really. Good thing I'm not really affected by it."

Jake was puzzled by Myotismon's random talk, but he understood what he meant as soon as he heard the wail in the air. _Ugh, the voice is horrible…_ Quickly, he increased the air pressure and clogged his ear, making the screeching softer and more bearable.

"Ah, so you're not bothered by it either. Good, good, now I won't feel guilty about unleashing my full strength on you. It'll be quite different from the, oh, 30% input I was exerting just a while ago, don't you think?"

_I don't think he's bluffing, either. Fuck._

"But you really shouldn't worry about that. After all, your friend is about to bite the dust." Myotismon continued.

Jake's eyes shot to the side when he said that, and Myotismon took the moment of distraction to attack immediately. Quick as a flash, he thrust a claw of energy straight through Jake's chest.

###

The pain inside Lily's head was terrible. She continued kneeling on the floor, clutching her head. She was barely able to open her eyes and see the energy ball in Etemon's hand.

_Oh, wow, I die due to bad singing. What a nice way to go._

The first energy ball was fired, followed by a barrage of others, all heading towards her helpless figure.

Lily could only close her eyes as the first one hit.

###

"What the…" Myotismon gasped as his hand went through Jake without any resistance. "No bone, no blood, no…dammit, it's an afterimage!"

###

_Hey, I thought there was way more than one energy ball…why do I only feel one hit? And why does Etemon's singing sound tinny all of a sudden? Not that I'm complaining, it's a change for the better._

"You need to be more careful next time."

_Of course…_

"Jake, you did not have to save my ass. I can handle myself, trust me."

He raised an eyebrow. "Hm? Didn't look that way fifteen seconds ago."

"Just shut up." She grumbled.

"You might want to pull that trump of yours. Just finish it quick, we're causing enough explosions as it is." He continued as he ignored Lily's request.

"Fine. If I finish first, you do all my chores for a week."

"No deal."

Jake leapt out from behind the tree they were hiding behind and turned into a small blur again as he sped towards his opponent again. Meanwhile, Lily was enveloped in a thin veil of magenta aura as she walked back to the fight, readjusting her hearing as it is. _Screw Jake and his use of air pressure for ear popping skills._

###

"Looking for me?"

Myotismon spun around quickly and spotted Jake leaning on a tree, his arms folded casually behind his head.

"You know, you're not always the only one holding back. I don't find explosions to be my taste, so I try to rein my power in. Of course, you're forcing my hand, so I guess a few explosions are unavoidable."

Myotismon narrowed his eyes. "Very well then."

He spun around, an energy forming from his hands to clash against an overhead slash in mid-air. As the sword met the whip, the ground behind Myotismon blew up, sending huge chunks of earth high into the air.

Jake grimaced as he seemingly warped again, this time sliding towards Myotismon's side from behind.

Myotismon sidestepped the blow as Jakes slash caused a giant gust of wind to fly out, uprooting a few trees in front of him and sending the spinning to the horizon.

Myotismon created yet another energy whip, managing to bind Jakes arms together tightly, his katana now dangling from his hand uselessly. With his other hand, Myotismon formed another energy claw and thrust it to Jake's chest.

Jake glowed with a blue energy as he muttered under his breath.

"Plasma Impulse."

Myotismon's eyes widened as another force field of electricity exploded from his figure again, much more powerful than last time. It tore the ground to shreds as it hurled Myotismon into the air, clouds of dust rising into the sky.

As the dust settled, there was a huge crater 40 yards in diameter. Lying on the fringes was Myotismon, scrambling back to his feet. But Jake was nowhere to be found.

Myotismon backflipped away as an energy wave fell from the sky and struck the place he was standing just a moment before, causing more boulders to fly into the air.

Myotismon continued to leap to and fro as more energy waves fell from the sky, striking the places he landed. He pulled his cloak over him, summoning another wall of bats as another wave came to him, cutting through the bats with ease. But the bats had done their job. Myotismon had disappeared again.

Jake barely landed on the ground before he was binded tight by Myotismon's whip again. _I've seriously got to stop falling for the same old tricks._

Myotismon chuckled as he stood back this time, not willing to face the blast of Jake's force field again. "It's a pity I can't get close to you without getting hurt. But no matter. The Nightmare Claw was not made to kill, but to paralyze instead."

_...oh come ON! You've GOT to be…ugh…now what?_

Jake could only give a tight, forced smile in response as he considered his options.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Well, that's too bad. What a waste of your last words."

Myotismon pulled back his other arm as dark energy gathered over his hand. "Goodbye, Jake. It's been nice knowing you. Nightmare Claw!"

A dark energy claw flew out to meet Jake. Jake screwed his eyes shut in concentration. _This is a huge gamble, but I have no choice._

"Thunderbird Decree!"

A giant lightning bolt suddenly flew down from the air, striking Jake's body. Jake's body shook violently as he shouted out in pain. The electricity traveled from Jake's body through the whip and to Myotismon, who widened his eyes as he realized Jake's plan.

Myotismon was thrown into the air as he felt the sting of that much electricity pouring through his body. He laid on the floor, still shaking from the shock. The hand and whip dissipated, allowing Jake to fall to the ground, feeling utterly exhausted.

###

_So THIS is why he told us to go farther…I really should've seen this coming. What an idiot._

Izzy and Ken were busy trying to get the portal set up as fights raged all around them when the first pile of rocks fell from the sky and tried to kill them.

"What the…where did these come from?"

"Guess Jake and Lily are really running loose now." Ken muttered as he quickly tried to punch in the access codes with his digivice.

"Damn…what's taking you so long to get through, anyways?"

"The area we have to open up to try and treat Kari is heavily protected. Why wouldn't it? Gennai does live there, after all. He's pretty much the only person who knows the grand scheme of things who's on our side."

"Ok, so how much time do you think it's going to take?"

"I have no idea, but 15 minutes at the most."

"You got to be shitting me…" Izzy muttered.

"Can that laptop of yours connect to the Digivice?" Ken asked, an idea popping into his head.

"Yeah, Yolei and I managed to figure out how to configure it, why?" Izzy asked slowly.

"Connect onto this one, you're going to help me break through all these damn firewalls. Why does Gennai have to make everything so difficult?" Ken grumbled.

###

Joe, being the only person who knew how to properly treat people, was forced to guard the still unconscious TK and the literally useless Kari as the fight raged on around him.

_Joe, three coming up from your left side, stay sharp. _Kari's voice echoed in his head.

Joe turned to his left and released a missile in that direction, blowing the three Bakemon to smithereens. He idly noted that the guy named Matt and some girl was frantically weaving in and out of the trees as the giant bug cut them down in attempt to kill the pests annoying him.

"Appreciate the warning, Kari. Now try to hang in there, we'll get you fixed soon enough."

_Joe, there's really no need to lie to me. I know it's pretty much over with me._

"I'm not lying." _I'm just merely unsure._

_…_

**WEEEEEEEEEE!**

Joe looked up and saw a giant whistling down. As it came closer, breaking through the branches of the treetops, he realized it was a giant flying boulders. That was very CONVENIENTLY heading right towards them.

_…oh dammit…_

Joe quickly swung his hammer back and forth, sending out a missile with each swing. The missiles flew into the rock, blowing up on impact and turning the rock into a cloud of dust. Joe screwed his eyes to a squint as he tried to prevent the dust from entering his eye.

_Joe, behind you!_

Joe tried to whirl around, but he was already pushed down to the ground. He looked up as he was greeted with the sight of a large fanged smile of a few very hungry Bakemon.

_…why did I let myself be distracted, anyways…? Oh, right, that stupid rock._

###

Tai was in complete control.

He growled in a feral manner as he brought his axe down on another Bakemon, cleaving it in half. Whirling around, he slashed through another line of Bakemon before he jumped into the air, swinging his axe over his head like a lasso as the blades caught fire before landing on the ground, swinging his axe down as he crouched in the middle of a swarm of Bakemon.

A ring of fire rippled out of where he stood, burning all the Bakemon to cinders. Tai stood from his crouch, spinning his axe in his hands, not even breathing too hard.

_**Um, you do realize complete slaughter is unnecessary, right?**_

_ So?_

_**Are you sure you're in total control?**_

_So maybe I'm not. Who cares?_

Tai continued to hack at the Bakemon, oblivious to the random debris that was suddenly falling from the sky. He whirled around after defeating another swarm and saw from some distance a bunch of Bakemon tackle Joe into the ground. Some more looked at the bodies of TK and Kari hungrily

"You BASTARDS!" He yelled. He threw his axe across the clearing at them as it caught fire again, flinging it straight into the cranium of one Bakemon. The Bakemon turned into flames, also spreading it around to all the other Bakemon like wildfire. In the end, Joe, TK, and Kari was enclosed in a circle of cinders.

"NOBODY touches my sister!"

Tai picked up his axe and immediately ran off to find his next victim, oblivious to Joe shaking his head as he got up from the ground.

"RAWR!" Tai yelled as he saw Davis and Yolei dancing around a dinosaur looking Digimon as he roared ferociously and tore up his surroundings to shreds. Tai didn't hesitate to charge in and jump, frontflipping once as his axe caught fire yet again before bringing it down over the Digimon's flank in an overhead smash.

He screeched in pain as he thrashed about, trying to shake off Tai, whose axe was now stuck impaled into his flesh. Tai flew around, being flung back and forth as he held the handle of his axe as he gritted his teeth, unwilling to let go.

Davis and Yolei looked at each other and took the moment to attack, Yolei pulling out a giant shuriken from nowhere and Davis' bladedge catching fire as they both charged.

Davis engulfed himself in his flames as he left a huge burning cut over the DarkTyrannomon's torso through a flaming Shoryuken style uppercut. Still engulfed in flames, he used the momentum to continue spinning, twisting his body so that he was pointing headfirst at the dinosaur.

Meanwhile, Yolei has jumped onto DarkTyrannomon's back and doing front flips on it, stabbing it with every flip. As she reached the end of the body and flipped off, she whirled around, throwing her giant shuriken at the dinosaur's head.

The dino roared in pain as he reared his head, causing the shuriken to whiz by, marking a long scratch onto his face. He roared again as it continued to thrash about, trying to shake off the axe, which was still stuck in his flank.

Davis had been pushing all his energy to his legs while he was spinning in the air. He released it all then, rocketing down from the spin like a missile, his arms now outstretched in front of his head.

The DarkTyrannomon looked up then and saw a meteor flying towards him. He panicked as he tried to move out of its way, thinking it was another attempt to make him extinct. Davis was moving way too fast, though, and he crashed into DarkTyrannomon's back with incredible force, burning a huge hole into his back and knocking the Digimon onto its stomach.

Tai finally saw his chance as he flipped himself onto DarkTyrannomon's back, finally prying the axe out of the dinosaur's flesh. He brought his axe down the wound caused by Davis and proceeded to inflict another huge cut on the Digimon's back.

The DarkTyrannomon had enough. Rearing up and throwing Tai off, he roared into the sky in anguish before turning and running away from the three Digidestined who had caused him much pain and suffering.

The three of them just stared at the Digimon's retreating back in silence before Davis finally decided to break the ice.

"Tai, what were you thinking when you jumped that huge thing without any concern of your own safety? I mean, not that we don't appreciate it, we did manage to defeat the DarkTyrannomon after you did that, but still…?"

"Eh?" Tai scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure… I don't think I remember ANYTHING between almost getting attacked by a Bakemon and being flung around by that dinosaur."

"You were running around like a madman, slaughtering Bakemon. Remember now?" Yolei asked hesitantly.

"…oh. Now I think I have a hazy recollection of what happened... Must've gotten carried away…heh heh." Tai sheepishly scratched the back of his head again.

"I'll say…you were running around like an idiot, yelling about really weird things when you were hacking those little ghosts apart." Yolei muttered. "Something about how you never got a girlfriend and how you were afraid that Kari would get abducted by a guy someday, among other things…hey, what's with the rocks falling around everywhere, anyways?"

###

_And the hits just keep on comin'…_

Izzy and Ken barely paid any attention as a tree impaled itself onto the ground barely five feet away from them, too busy absorbed in trying to break Gennai's security to care about such things.

"We're almost through…man, you're like a god at this." Ken muttered as he continued mashing his thumbs in an order only he could discern.

"You're not too shabby yourself." Izzy replied as he typed incredibly quickly on his laptop, his hands and fingers a blur to the naked eye. "I hope you're right about being almost there, though. I'm not sure how much more we can take."

"Are you kidding?" Ken stopped for a bit to throw a few needles into a Bakemon that eyed them like a snack. "This is the fastest time for this hack I've ever seen. We got this far in 87 seconds! That's like unreal right there!"

"Now, now, I guess I'll have to ruin the fun and games by myself." Came the voice from the forest again.

Ken and Izzy both threw their projectiles at the voice, but all that came out of the forest was a lot of clanging before a hooded creature walked out of the forest. He was holding a scythe which strangely also had a flail attached to the end of the scythe. The hooded creature pointed at his scythe angrily as it continued to smoke for a bit.

"Stupid electric blast…you know how long it took to make this scythe? You almost ruined it! Now I will show you no mercy."

"Eh?" Ken chuckled for a bit as he an Izzy continued to work, unbothered by the newcomer's presence. "Thought you were going to fight us to prevent us from leaving, not to avenge the damage we might've caused to your scythe. Though it's nice to know you're not hiding behind Myotismon's other minions anymore."

The eyes that glowed out of the hood narrowed. "You'll regret saying that."

"Sure, Phantomon, whatever you say." Ken pocketed his Digivice as even more needles appeared in his hands. "Izzy, you got one more push before you break through. Just try to finish, don't rush. I'll take this one."

Izzy did't even bother nodding as Phantomon charged at Ken, swinging his scythe at him. Ken dodges it easily as he sidesteps the attack, throwing a few needles at Phantomon while he did so. Phantomon swung his mace through the needles, swatting them aside.

"Hm? Where did he go…?"

Another barrage of needles shot out from above him, flying out from the treetops. Phantomon jumped out of the way as the needles impaled themselves into the ground.

"I know where you are now!" He shouted as he jumped up to the treetops where the needles shot out from. But even as he looked around, he knew that nobody was there.

Ken suddenly dropped onto the branch Phantomon was standing on, appearing right behind him. He swiped at his head as Phantomon ducked and whirled, swinging his scythe in the meantime.

Ken stumbled back on his branch as a thin cut appeared on his wrist. "Yes!" Phantomon cackled in triumph as he raised his scythe, now containing an infinitesimally small amount of Ken's blood smeared on the blade.

"Your end begins now!" he continued to cackle. Phantomon began to stream out a bunch of words in a strange language, as Ken just looked on, undisturbed by Phantomon's claims. A red circle of light with a skull in the center appeared beneath Phantomon's feet as he swung the scythe blade into the tree branch.

"Words of Death!" Phantomon yelled. He pointed his scythe at Ken. "Any last words? Because I only need to say one more before y-" Suddenly, Phantomon became silent. He widened his eyes in puzzlement and shock before he started waving his hands around frantically.

"Forgive me, but I got kind of impatient." Ken smiled. Phantomon began to wave his arms around even more furiously. "What, no response? That's a first. But then again, you have me to thank for that."

Ken put his hands into his pockets, his body language at ease, not worried about any threat. "You see, when you jumped up to the tree, I was standing right next to you. How is that possible, you ask?"

Ken suddenly turned his whole body, clothes and all, into a dark green and brown, blending right into his surroundings, before changing back to normal.

"It's a nice trick, camouflage. A lot of animals in the wild utilize this trait. Anyways, while standing next to you, I scratched your neck with a needle in such a way that you wouldn't notice. Then I made my appearance act by jumping a bit, reverting back to my normal coloring in mid-air, which gets your attention. Of course, it would seem to you that I popped up from above or something."

Phantomon picked up his scythe and mace menacingly as Ken continued, unperturbed.

"Normally, my poison automatically targets the closest body cells and spread out from there, but I can keep it inert if I wish and let it travel to any nearby part of the body from the place the poison entered. For example, if I scratch your neck, I can go for, say, the vocal cords. All that remained was to reactivate the poison whenever I wish."

Phantomon finally ran out of patience and decided to try and attack Ken, swinging his scythe and mace around in a frenzy. However, Ken easily grabbed the scythe in mid-swing with one hand and the chain of the mace in the other, stopping both weapons in one stroke. He then proceeded to kick the now defenseless Phantomon straight in the chest, sending him flying outwards off the tree branch.

Phantomon struggled to get to his feet as Ken lightly landed on his feet behind him. "You really shouldn't consider fighting me in your current state. You're simply just not in a good enough physical condition to attempt traditional hand-to-hand combat. That's what happens when you rely too much on a one-hit kill attempt."

Phantomon narrowed his eyes as he managed to get to his feet. He raised his arms and a red barrier appeared around him. Ken widened his eyes as he realized what he was doing.

"Oh, you little coward, hiding behind goons once again…"

_Obviously, the way to stop this is to break his concentration, but the stupid barrier is stopping me from doing anything. I would try to create a loud noise to make it seem like there's something really big and heavy flying around, but that little coward is so sure of his barrier that he wouldn't be distracted by any possible large debris. Ugh, what to do…_

"Cracked it." Izzy spoke listlessly as he punched out the last command. "Hey, the portal is now perfectly functional. What are you going to do with it?"

Ken smiled then. _Of course, we can always run and live to fight another day._

###

Cody was ready to start cheering when Izzy shouted that the portal was ready. He really couldn't take the waves of attacks any longer.

Though Sora and two of those still suspicious people have joined him and Mimi on their crusade against the SkullMeramon, it still wasn't exactly going well. As per usual, none of their attacks were really working. While Sora's flames managed to burn a large portion of the SkullMeramon's skin, he seemed unaffected by it. And the injuries caused by those two unspeakables weren't really doing much, either.

_This is just like fighting a practice dummy…except for the fact that it's trying to kill you._

Cody gritted his teeth as he jumped away from an overhead smash from the brute, who managed to create yet another giant crack in the earth with his fist.

"Ah, what the heck, just hold him until the previously chosen four people are safely within the portal. Then run for it." Sora yelled as she sprung onto the SkullMeramon's arm, neatly dodging a jab that would've broken at least two ribs.

Cody glanced at the blond guy that was conveniently standing close to him then, still diligently pumping blasts into the giant's face. "What, you're not going to run? You are one of those people who should be going, right?"

"Not until they see my brother off safely first. I'm not leaving even one second before that." Matt curtly replied as he materialize the blade from his cannon and waved it around in front of him, fending off the limbs that tried to knock him flat. "Otherwise, that guy might come after us and manage to jump into the portal. I don't want that."

"…" Cody could not say anything back, as the limbs decided to go after him instead. He dived out of the way as a leg demolished the base of the tree behind him, causing the tree to topple towards the SkullMeramon, The beastly humanoid didn't even blink (Wait, he doesn't have eyelids…so I don't think he can to begin with. :/) as he grabbed the falling tree with his two hands and lifted it up to the air with relative ease before swinging it around wildly like a baseball bat.

"Oi, the unconscious ones are through the portal, the other two of you better get your ass here right now before we all die!" Joe called as he and Yolei somewhat haphazardly dumped T.K and Kari into the portal.

Cody noted out of the corner of his eye that the blond stranger then began to turn his back onto the brute and fled from the enemy who felt no pain.

"…hmph. So they can stick to their words after all."

###

While the SkullMeramon was incapable of any communication besides pointing and grunts, that didn't mean he was incapable of understanding any communications whatsoever. It was also quite suspiciously convenient that Phantomon, his boss, had the ability to send telepathic messages to this particular henchman, which he, of course, was now using to communicate while he was currently mute.

_SkullMeramon, you order has been changed. Killing the digidestined is not your first priority anymore, your first priority is to now attempt to get through that white portal. Understood._

The SkullMeramon grunted, which to anyone outside would just be an beastial gesture, but anyone who knew what was going on in his head would know that it was his way of affirming the statement.

Phantomon smiled inwardly as he knew his minion understood his command. _You may have taken my voice, but I WILL get my revenge, Digidestined!_

###

Cody was stunned when the SkullMeramon knocked Joe and Mimi to the side while they attacked from both the left and right before suddenly jumping high into the air, over Cody's head. He whirled around as he saw the giant land with a thud, creating more cracks in the earth on impact.

Cody was barely able to comprehend what was going on until he saw the half ton tank of bulletproof flesh and muscles barrel over to what seemed to be…

_…I am an idiot…_

Cody knew anything he done would've been too late, that the SkullMeramon would reach the portal before even Tai or that blond stranger would, and that would prove catastrophic. But it was out of his character not to try and stop the evil from success. He raised his lance, preparing to fire it at the juggernaut.

A flash appeared out of the trees as that girl suddenly ended up on the giant's back, stabbing everywhere she could with her spear. For some reason, her attacks were actually able to bring out a response from that beast who took all the punishment dealt to him before without so much as cringing. He roared in agony as he swerved from his target, reaching behind him with one hand and plucking the pest off his back before flinging her into a tree. She crashed into it with a sickening thud before dropping to the floor like a sack of bricks, unconscious after impact with a tree trunk for the second time that day.

_But it doesn't matter. At least now my distraction would make it._

He pointed his lance at the giant, now, turning again to charge at the portal, and fired the point off.

###

Tai's head shot towards the commotion that suddenly occurred as he was running to the way out of this war zone as he heard a loud, ominous thud. He was just in time to see the SkullMeramon roar as he suddenly swung a whip made of a long chain into what seemed to be a missile, setting the explosion off early. His gaze fell onto him as he and that blond person both reached the portal, his intention becoming painfully clear at the moment.

"Don't worry about it, we'll both be gone by the time he arrives." The other person panted as he took note of the beast that began to move at a ferocious pace towards them. But Tai knew that wasn't the case. The SkullMeramon still might be able to slip in at the last moment, and he is not going to risk his sister's condition on that possibility.

"…just go. I'll hold him."

The newcomer's eyes widened as he realized what Tai was trying to say. "That's crazy! You'll get slaughter-"

The rest of his message was silenced as Tai crudely pushed him into the portal, causing his body to be whisked away. He focused only on the approaching tank as it barreled towards him, his axe appearing in his hands, ready for what laid ahead.

_I cannot run, I am the only one between him and my sister's safe haven. I must hold my ground, I must, I must…_

The SkullMeramon swept one arm in a backhand as he tried to knock Tai aside, but Tai raised his axe and caught the hand, forcing it into a deadlock. The SkullMeramon pushed against the axe, forcing more and more force over Tai's trembling arms. Tai's instinct flared up wildly as it told him to run for his life.

_NO_

_ I_

_ MUST_

_ STAY!_

Tai felt his body heat up strangely as strength suddenly coursed through his arms. He pushed back a bit, the heat flowing through his being. The SkullMeramon let up a bit in surprise as Tai saw his opening.

Tai pushed off against the hand with all his strength, flinging the SkullMeramon back several yards as he stumbled down into the ground, completely winded. Tai barely noted the disappearing heat as he glanced at his arm to see a fading orange light that he was quite sure was around his whole body during his sudden overflow of power. He jumped into the portal, positive that this time, he left no possibility of intrusion.

###

_And the show's over, time for us to make our exit as well._

Izzy immediately pressed an emergency button located at the back of his Digivice, creating a mini-portal for his personal use. This one was, of course, the normal blue color that signified the connection between Earth and the DigiWorld.

Phantomon whirled around frantically as portals suddenly appeared all around him as the others prepared their leave, some dragging downed bodies with them.

_Quick, SkullMeramon, after one of them, you useless hunk of meat!_

The SkullMeramon was still too busy picking himself from the ground after what was, to him, an unexpected response from that spiky haired kid. Everyone had already departed, some of them taunting him with gestures like mock waving in goodbye and stupid faces (not to mention the ever famous middle finger. Cody made sure that the hooded creature saw it before he jumped into the portal).

The two creatures Phantomon was summoning managed to get out of the portals just as the last Digidestined's leg disappeared into the portal, the portal closing up after it. The monsters looked around, confused at the lack of targets.

Phantomon closed his eyes in exasperation and fear. He has a huge clean-up ahead of him, after all. Not to mention the fact that his master would be very displeased with him when he finds all this out.

Phantomon failed to notice that yet another huge wave of rocks are coming down from the sky to greet them, though. But that's alright. He'll figure that out soon enough.

###

Etemon smiled deviously as he saw Lily stumble out from behind a tree, still clutching her ears.

_You got lucky the last time, but I'll make sure you don't dodge THIS!_

Etemon swiftly put away his microphone this time before firing dark blasts of energy from both palms this time, staggering his fire to make it seem like an even steadier stream of fire. Lily still clutched onto her ears, the pain not leaving even though the singing stopped just a moment ago.

The blasts swarmed Lily, covering her in a veil of darkness. Etemon smiled in his success as they all exploded, creating a huge column of smoke. _Nobody could dodge that. That should teach you from defying the great Etemon!_

At that moment, Etemon felt a huge thump at the top his head as he spawled onto the ground, startled. He barely managed to roll away safely before Lily's other leg completely demolished the ground he was sprawled upon before.

Etemon scrambled up to his feet, his mind in shock as he tried to comprehend what happened. He raised his hand subconsciously and fired yet another blast at Lily.

Lily's only response was to get up and dusted herself off a bit as the missile just brushed past her and flew into a nearby tree.

"What? Is something wrong?" She asked airily as Etemon tried to figure out how the blast missed.

_What the…but it was only a 15 feet distance. I should be able to hit that with my eyes shut while I'm prancing around like a drunkard or something._

"Oh, and don't bother trying to hit me. As of now…"

The pink light flared up around Lily wildly before she made them die down again, becoming almost invisible to the naked eye.

"I'm untouchable."

Etemon widened his eyes as Lily swiftly appeared in front of him, kicking in his general direction and blasting him back.

"While that also means I can't physically hit you, that doesn't mean you won't be blown away. You are a tangible object, after all."

She jumped up and over Etemon in a frontflip, bringing her leg down as she finished it. Etemon could feel the force of it even though he was 10 feet below her and stumbled forward, his head ringing.

Lily flipped again as she smoothly landed on the floor, twisting into a spinning kick directed towards the ape's head again. Etemon's head whipped to the side as he felt the blow, knocking his shades off completely as he spun sideways onto the floor.

Lily looked down at him in disdain as his eyeballs rolled around in opposite directions. _Hmph, he looked better with the glasses on._

She was about to go for a killing blow when a white flash blinded her eyes for a bit. She looked around, trying to locate the source of the flash, just in time to see Jake fall onto the floor, his clothes singed.

Leaving the ape to his own devices, she quickly moved towards his still body and lifted him up, checking for a pulse. While her power to see people's auras and their intensities that match the person's mood, that did not mean she could identify if someone was dead, unconscious, or sleeping. All three cases result in the person having no aura.

Lily sighed as she felt the pulsing in Jake's neck. It was erratic, but if Lily's guess on what Jake did was correct, that erratic beat was perfectly normal, though a little disconcerting. Her Digivice vibrated, causing her to fish it out of her pants leg. She smiled as she saw the screen. _Ken, brilliant as always. Good job._

She replied quickly, requesting that the white portal be opened up at their current location. As it appeared, Lily dragged herself into it, Jake hanging loosely from her shoulder.

Myotismon continued to try and drag himself into the portal even as it closed behind the two people. He gave a low growl as he finally dropped onto the floor, completely spent.

_…incompetent fools…_

_###_

**End of the cliffhangers. Everybody makes it through, that some not as fortunate as others...anyways, till next time**

**-IQman2000**


	15. Chapter 14: End of another hiatus

**IQMan: First off, let me just say that I am REALLY REALLY REALLY sorry about the INCREDIBLY late update. I was occupied by a lot of stuff, including school as September rolled by, and...**

**Loveliness: Hmph. Don't make excuses for yourself. I had to spend a month motivating you to finish.**

**IQMan: ...Don't remind me... Anyways, here's Chapter 14. I'll try to update faster, but...um...school's tough, you know? Perhaps I would shorten the chapter length. Who knows?**

**Loveliness: IQman also apologizes for his atrocious grammar in the following chapter, as I have not yet gotten the opportunity to edit it. He also would like to say that he does not own Digimon, only the OCs.**

Chapter 14

Ken felt relatively proud of himself. After all, he pretty much just came through a war zone without getting killed, right? You would think everything else would be a piece of cake.

Well, that's what he thought. Until he ended up in a school he had never been before. And the people there forced him to disguise himself. As TK.

"You got to be kidding me…" Ken almost shouted when the girl Matt enjoyed to heckle and the techie pressed him with their idea.

"It's not much of a choice we have. After all, we can't just go around to the general public and say that those two were incapacitated by a digital being or something." Izzy said matter-of-factly

"But telling me and Athena to disguise as them? Are you nuts? What about all those other people who know 'us'? Won't they get suspicious if 'we' were acting 'weird'?" Ken waved his arms around as he said that hysterically, trying to prove his point.

"Calm down," Sora soothed. "It's not like they're well known. TK's new here, right? So nobody really knows him. And Kari doesn't have a lot of friends either, so no worries."

"Uh, actually…" Yolei scratched her head awkwardly as she overhead the conversation. "That's probably not true… I mean, TK caused a huge ruckus on the school ride, right? He probably made himself known to tons of people like that. And then there was that basketball game where he pretty much went up against what might be the biggest jerk in the history of this planet and kicked his ass in front of a huge crowd of people, and…"

Ken pretty much got the message when Yolei said "ruckus" and "bus ride", so, he was getting somewhat disturbed by the amount of information still spewing out of her mouth. _Oh, TK, what have you been up to…?_

"Ok, ok, no need to say any more, I don't think I…" Ken tried to stop the purple-haired motormouth from going any further, but she just pressed on like Ken never opened his mouth.

"And then that stupid jerk got mad that he lost and he couldn't force Kari out onto a date, so he tried to beat TK up and ended up getting completely owned and…"

Yolei frowned as she stopped her tirade, looking at Ken in puzzlement. Ken had sat on a desk in the classroom, cradling his head in his arms in exasperation.

A silence descended the room as everybody digested the somewhat obvious meaning of this development. Finally, Ken decided to take a crack at the problem.

"Well, unless somebody has hair gel and a pint of blond dye on them, we're kinda screwed. So…uh…"

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Athena had woke up yet again, pouncing onto Ken's back with enthusiasm as Ken tried very hard to keep his balance and not keel over the desk. "Why does Ken need a pint of hair dye, anyways?"

"And hopefully some brown hair dye, too." Ken continued on, not even bothering to the chirping right behind him.

"Don't worry, we have it." Izzy said in a deadpan manner as he stared off somewhere. Ken looked around and saw most people's gazes seemed to be fixated on one thing. Following their eyes, his own line of vision fell onto a girl who was busy throwing things out of her school bag in search of something.

"Hm…no, that's not it. I don't need any curlers…nope, don't need perfume. Um…wrong color…I don't think Kari paints her nails, so…ok, here's one bottle of hair dye, and…"

Ken closed his eyes before banging his head onto the table. "You got to be kidding me…what the hell are those doing in her bag in the first place?"

"Actually, this isn't relatively normal. It wasn't as bad as that time when she brought a French Maid outfit in there for some school occasion or another." Joe said with a bored expression as Izzy, Sora, and Yolei nodded in agreement.

"…right…" Ken barely had enough time to digest that thought in his head before Mimi straightened in a cheery fashion. "Ok, two bottles of hair dye, one blond, one brown, and one bottle of hair gel. Now, who needs a makeover?"

Ken took a look around, but all he got was four pairs of innocent-looking eyes in return. However, Ken was willing to bet his life that if he made a break for it, the others would surely catch him and force him to subject through the torture.

"I'm only doing this for TK, no one else. Athena, come on, we're getting a makeover."

"Really? That's awesome! I wonder if that girl is good…" Athena continued to rattle.

_Figures, she's definitely more excited about this then I am._

###

_A little boy rushed through the alleyways, only a yellow blur as he swerved around corners and weaved through trash cans. He was unsure of how he got there, as he knew that alleyways were not the best place to go if you're trying not to get caught. There were too many dead ends and no way to know when it's coming, as the movies have demonstrated often enough._

_He heard the yells of rage behind him as he ran, reminding him that instinct made that poor decision for him. _Of course. I am such an idiot.

_He tipped over a trash can near the walls as he vaulted over it, hoping that the obstacle might buy him some time as he turned the corner and saw the end of the road ahead of him; the end of the alley led to a main road, filled with observers that would protect him from the wrath of the beasts behind him._

_He sprinted harder, getting closer and closer to his goal every second, the walls around him now just a flash of grey and brown. And skidded to a stop as two more people stepped out, blocking his escape_

_TK looked around for an escape, but was met with only a cold face of brick and concrete. He gulped as his pursuers finally caught up to him, moving slowly towards their prey now that it's trapped._

This has been happening ever since I came…ever since that day…

_Memories flashed in his mind, the sound of a crash and tingles as objects were flung around as yelling resonated around the house. He was hiding under the covers of his bed, his brother just holding him without a word as chaos descended around them. Then a door slam, and the sound of a car leaving quickly out of the garage._

_He didn't know what that word "divorce" meant, only that it caused him to leave his brother, leave his father, as his mother dragged him off to a newfound place, a new home. But it never felt like it. It felt too empty, like there was something missing. And TK, though only the tender age of eight, already knew what it was._

_His size and somewhat introverted nature caused him to become the runt of the big boys, though they met a surprise when he tried to defy them and caused three of their members to end up in the nurse's office. His brother taught him well, apparently._

_However, it was also the reason why those big boys had decided to gang up on him in a huge swarm, not taking the chance that they might be sent to the nurse's office again. Most of the time, that precaution doesn't do too much, as some people go to the nurse with their cuts and bruises anyways. But even he couldn't fight off a horde of people almost twice his size, and thus, he was subject to immense pain whenever he was caught. And he was always caught in the end. There's just too many people to escape. And this time was no exception_

_The boy backed up into the wall as the others surrounded him. As the first few came to restrain him, the boy lashed out, causing a few noses to bleed as they slunk away, preferring to avoid any more suffering. The next batch came out, only to be chased away as the prey continued to resist, punching and kicking in a frenzy. But he could keep that up for only so long, and soon, a group of boys managed to keep his flailing limbs from protecting him, pining him to the wall._

_The boy continued to struggle, knowing that this incident was going to hurt a lot more than the previous ones. This time, they brought rocks with them, projectiles that would probably hurt more than any fist. They began to take turns throwing the rocks at him, hitting his chest, stomach, knees, even his head once in a while. The poor prisoner tried his best to try and stay silent, but he couldn't keep his mouth shut for long and started to scream in his agony, tears streaming from his eyes._

_His tormentors only laughed raucously in response, getting pleasure from the torture their prey was experiencing. However, their laughter was suddenly cut short for some reason, as they began to scatter for some reason or another. The boy was released quickly as he fell to the ground, hurt too much to even move a muscle. He expected the cold hard ground to greet him, but it never came. Instead, he felt himself being surrounded by something warm and soft as his descent stopped before he could feel nothing at all._

###

TK's eyes snapped open as he took a sharp intake of breath. His eyes fluttered around wildly, searching for any signs of a belligerent person trying to attack him, before realizing that he was staring up not at treetops and sky, but a cream colored ceiling.

He blinked, making sure that what he was experiencing wasn't some kind of hallucination of some sort as he took his new surroundings in. He turned to the left slowly, his eyes falling upon an old man, the only hair being the long grey beard that trailed down to his knees as he stooped over a cane to support himself. The man was watching TK intently, but as TK turned to stare at him, his beard twitched into a smile.

"Well, Hope, you've finally awakened. How to you feel, child?"

"Just fine, Old Man, I feel better than I think I should."

"I told you to just call me Gennai, no need to honor me with such a title."

TK smiled. "You told me to call you old man the last time I called you Gennai, so what are you trying to tell me?"

Gennai chuckled. "I see your brain is still in order."

"I sure hope so. How long was I out?"

"24 hours here, 24 minutes back in the digital world, about a minute back in the real world." Gennai answered breezily as he went to pick up a cup of tea before setting it at a table alongside TK's bed. TK slowly propped himself up into a sitting position on the bed before picking up the tea and drinking it, the heat of the beverage spreading throughout his body.

Gennai took a stool from a corner of the room and used it to sit next to TK's bed. "Say, you were cringing quite a bit through your sleep. Is something wrong?"

TK just laid back down on the bed. "No, nothing's wrong. Nothing that shouldn't be, at least."

Gennai remained looking doubtful, but he let the boy off, leaving as TK got lost in his thoughts.

_That incident…it seems to love bothering me…but why…?_

###

_This is so dumb._

That was the only thought going in Ken's mind as he meekly followed behind the chattering purple haired girl to his-wait, _TK's_ next class.

_It's so nice to be an impersonator, I'm stuck with no idea what to do except to listen to a girl who takes forever to TELL me what to do…_

"Hey, are you listening?" The girl turned abruptly and pouted as she saw his eyes glazing over.

"No." _I might as well be honest about it._

The girl's pout turned into a scowl as she went behind him and began pushing him into some classroom.

"Fine then, ignore me. Just listen to the teacher if he asks you for anything and keep to yourself, that's the only thing that the other one did, anyways." Ken mutely stood there as she stormed off, muttering something about how "they were all so cold and have sticks up their ass."

Ken didn't let it show on his face as he seemingly ignored what he heard and watched the short kid and the one with goggles whisper hastily in the corner as the goggle head shot glances at him repeatedly. But the pit in himself continue to sink deeper as he remembered things he rather not recollect about.

_…one's gotta love them regrets, huh?_

###

Gennai closed the door on TK's room softly before turning to see that his two more able visitors were making themselves right at home. Well, as much as home as you can get when your two siblings are bedridden due to an evil stick figure.

Matt and Tai were busy playing poker as they sat across each other on relatively comfy sofas, Matt dealing the cards across the coffee table between them while Tai watched half-heartedly to see if Matt was trying to pull a sleight of hand. Matt was feeling too sick to worry about that at the moment, however.

Gennai trotted over to the pair and sat down heavily on a rocking chair as he watched the two play, Tai eventually folding his hand.

"Screw this, I don't want to play anymore." Tai groaned as Matt silently gathered up the cards and put them away in one of the pockets in his cargo pants. "Why do you even have cards on you anyways?"

"Preparation against boredom." Matt shortly replied as the two of them just rested back on the couch, not really saying anything.

"Well, young TK has woken up just recently. His physical state seems fine, though a little weak. However, he seemed troubled by something." Gennai decided to state from his rocking chair.

"Troubled by something…?" Matt eyes shifted around as he stood up glumly. "Probably that thing again…" he muttered as he silently headed towards his brother's room. Gennai made no attempt to stop him.

Tai glanced uneasily at the strange old man cradling himself back and forth on his rocking chair. "So…uh…"

"Just call me Gennai, no need to refer to me by any titles." He replied pleasantly as he continued rocking in his chair with what seemed to be hardly any care at all.

"Um…how is my sister?"

"Sadly, I'm not sure. She's currently still unable to even twitch a finger. With extensive physical therapy, we could bring her back into working order, but…I can't guarantee that."

_Which basically means there's probably very little chance of success. Wonderful._

"…" Without a word, Tai stood up and headed towards a rather worn out oak door, putting on his shoes before opening it.

"What are you doing?"

"Train." Tai said bluntly before shutting the door behind him. He'll worry about how to train in a world that's completely void of anything except whiteness and a floor later. Right now he needed to vent.

###

Ken had always been a rather soft spoken person. He preferred keeping to himself, as he really didn't feel right about being open with everybody. Especially not after his last misadventure, to put it mildly.

"Hey" Athena slid over by Ken as he sat alone on the bench-like seat, writing down what he could on his worksheet. Though the teacher has allowed the students to mingle around with each other, Ken, again, preferred keeping to himself. "I don't really get what to do here, can you help me?"

"Sure." Ken moved a bit, allowing Athena to sit on the other half of the bench as she immediately grabbed the paper and began to furiously copy down everything on his paper. _Should've seen that coming. _Ken sighed

"I can't believe nobody found us out yet. To be honest, this is a really shoddy disguise." Athena muttered as she continued scribbling things down her worksheet, her mouth barely moving.

Ken glanced around the room, checking if anyone was watching before responding. "Not much we can do about it. It was either that or we try to get out of school early. And without a proper layout of this school, there's no way we can do that without getting caught."

"Mm…" Athena checked Ken's paper for a bit before looking back at her own and scratched something out with a pen she managed to borrow after much pestering of that "really cool girl with glasses." "Ken, why are some of these answers wrong? I mean, tungsten is the metal with the highest melting temperature, not iron, and the element with the potential to mimic calcium is strontium…"

"Look, if you know this, why are you copying off MY work?" Ken grumbled as he made no attempt to correct those mistakes.

"Because you're supposed to be right all the time, Mr. Prodigy."

"Exactly. I don't want TK to get any awkward questions when he gets back. If "TK" answers every single one of these questions correctly, then there will be questions. I'm pretty sure that TK doesn't want that kind of attention. Not to mention that we should keep a low of a profile as we can so people doesn't find out anything about us."

"You're no fun." Athena pouted.

Ken rolled his eyes. "Go away then."

"Sure, but before I do so, why don't you take a look around you?"

Ken looked around, his heart just slowly sinking in despair at the number of eyes watching them, along with whispering and quite a few snickers.

_…So much for keeping a low profile… Dammit, TK, you brought attention on yourself this fast…how are we supposed to explain your random absences from your class?_

"…It's going to be tough to get TK out of the classroom now…"

Athena only giggled in response before whispering in his ear. "You should worry more about what these people think 'we' are. I don't think the people we're impersonating are going to be too happy when they get back to school."

With that, she gave him a wink before skipping cheerfully back to her, no, Kari's seat. Ken suddenly noticed the "ooohs" and other strange cooing noises in the background as he realized just exactly what his now very evil and cruel friend was trying to do. _What the…why isn't the teacher saying anything?_

Ken resisted the urge to give himself a bloody beating as he realized the teacher has conked out from behind the guise of reading a newspaper, and most of the class had been taking advantage of it. _Including that she-devil, probably._

That's when Ken remembered that they were acting out not as themselves, but as two other people. And while he does not know Kari's deposition, he knew that TK wouldn't take to this situation nicely. Quite the opposite. And TK and angry doesn't mix well at ALL.

_…that fucking BI-_

###

Back when the group had just gotten together under their "boss", Lily had a habit of waking up later than everyone else. Well, she still does, but that's no important now. Anyways, she wouldn't have really cared about this though if it wasn't for the fact that every single time she got out the door, somebody would jump out of nowhere and scare the hell out of her. Unfortunately, Lily's first reaction to getting scared was to hit or kick the shit out of whoever was pulling the prank. They got the message in two weeks: Nobody tries to jump Lily. Ever.

So when Lily entered the "limbo" of the DigiWorld and almost got her head chopped off by Tai waving his axe around like a complete madman, the first thing she did was somehow kick Tai in the face while holding onto Jake at the same time, causing Tai to stagger back.

"Ow, what the fuck was that for?" Tai shouted as he started to swerve around in a circular motion, clutching his head with one hand.

Lily paled a bit as she realized exactly what she had done. "Sorry, Spikey, it's a force of habit. Blame this idiot for it." Lily motioned to Jake who was still flopped like a rag doll over her shoulder.

"It's your fault that you wake up last every time anyways. We were trying to get you to want to wake up earlier." Tai heard a voice grumble from behind Lily. _Apparently that guy is more useful than he looks right now._

Tai only shook his head in exasperation. "Still, you didn't have to fucking kick my face, pea-brain!"

"Pea-brain?" Any pity Lily had on the axe wielding spike-head was lost at that moment. "What kind of lame comeback was that? I'll have you know, my brain is at least a couple hundred times larger than that pathetic organ in your empty skull!"

"Shut the fuck up, both of you." The voice growled from behind Lily again. Lily's head snapped forward before she dropped the body she was carrying onto the floor in retaliation.

Jake slowly stood on his shaky legs before he started to walk towards the cabin door. "Anyways, Tai, how long has it been since you've been here?"

"…According to my watch and my sleeping pattern, about two days. The Digivice says differently, of course, but…"

"Yeah, that little son of a gun is pretty damn useful for little things like that. The time always stays in correspondence to Earth's." Jake grumbled as he began to attempt hobbling to his goal, only succeeding in tripping and crashing in a sprawl onto the floor.

Tai helped him up and threw Jake's arms around his shoulders before dragging him into the cabin. "At least you're saner than that pea-brain over there."

"Fuck off, Spikey."

"Your mother." Tai shot back as he opened the door and slammed it shut behind him and the person he was half dragging, half carrying.

Lily only shook her head before she followed in after them, praying that she wouldn't kick someone in the head if they tried to jump her after she opened the door. She didn't need anyone else to suffer.

###

Jake found it strange that, instead of continuing to fume over his right hand…person, Tai immediately regressed into a thoughtful state after slamming the door.

"…Anyways…can you tell me what exactly happened here in the past two 'days'?" Jake said, trying to break the other kid's thoughts.

"That blond kid woke up a few hours ago. His brother went to check up on him. Apparently the kid was bothered by something." Tai said monotonously as he dropped Jake onto a couch.

"Hm…it's probably the old dream again." Jake muttered as he adjusted himself on the couch so that he was lying on it and staring at the ceiling. "Well, what about that other girl? The one that lost all her nerve endings?"

"…"

"…did Gennai recommend physical therapy?"

A nod.

"Was his percentage of success around thirty percent?"

Shake

"Twenty?"

Another shake.

"Ten?"

Shake once more

"Five?"

"Three, to be exact." Tai finally muttered.

"Huh, three? Damn, I though we finally might have a record breaker here."

"…what?"

"Well, the lowest percentage he gave out was one-third of a precent, while the highest was actually sixteen."

"…"

"It's a prank of his. The percentage only pertains to the success rate if it was administered by anyone besides him. That percentage can go up at least ten fold, so don't worry about it. Besides, your sister…that's your sister, right? She sounds like a fighter. Or a whiny bitch. She'll make it." Jake chuckled softly.

"…" Anything Tai wanted to say was drowned out by another door slam. Next thing he knew, there was a soft "Oof!" as Lily just sat down on top of Jake. She looked down and realized that she was apparently sitting on someone instead of something.

"Sorry." Lily said as she quickly got up and helped Jake pull himself up into a sitting position on the couch, where he just laid back and resumed his staring contest with the ceiling.

"Why did you slam the door anyways?" Jake grumbled into the ceiling.

"Oh, I was doing my standard check-up of whether or not somebody was planning to jump me. Didn't want to kick someone in the face again."

"What's the difference between a kick in the face and slamming into a door, anyways…?" Tai muttered.

Jake only shrugged in response. _Honestly, I can't figure that out, either._

"There just…is, ok?"

"Whatever you say…"

"Yo." Matt said as he and TK staggered into the living room, their arms around each other's shoulders to help TK walk.

"Hey, what's up? What's with the nightcap?" Lily asked as she pointed to the white hat that looked out of place on TK's head.

"…A nightcap? I thought I put in the Digivice my regular hat…" TK muttered as he ripped off the nightcap from his head and stared at it.

"You wear a nightcap to bed?" His brother ventured.

"Hats feel comfortable, though a fisherman's hat isn't what you'll exactly wear to bed."

"Give me that." Jake called out. TK threw him the nightcap into Jake's lap, who immediately picked it up and put it over his head before slouching down in an unmistakable gesture of an attempt to sleep. Matt took one look at Jake, who now looked more like a toddler than someone who went toe-to-toe with Myotismon and lived, before taking out a camera from the Digivice's internal storage and began taking pictures of him. _Athena would like these…she'll probably threaten to give these photos to the fangirls if Jake didn't pay up._

"Matt, you better delete these photos by the time we get out of here. If I ever see them in Athena's hands, I'll know who to go after." Jake warned.

"Yeah, ok." Matt replied, making no attempt to delete the photos. TK and Lily began guessing just exactly how much Matt would sell those pictures to Athena for. "$150."

"No way, Athena can easily make $400 off those, your big bro's going to charge at least half of that."

Tai watched the proceedings in amazement. _THIS is how one of the most infamous groups that was under that unknown mastermind's control acts? I thought they'll act a little more…evil or unsettling or something._ But that wasn't the case. In fact, the scene looked a little too similar to those idle days he spent with his friends and his sister before he got dragged into all that Digimon business. Tai shook his head then, trying to clear his mind before it would ultimately lead him back to the thought of Kari's certain condition. He didn't want to go crazy with concern and paranoia just yet. Not until he shoulders that responsibility as a big brother. And that meant looking out for her.

"I should probably go visit nee-chan…" Tai said softly as he slowly got up and backed away from the proceedings. TK stopped his guessing game with Lily as he heard that.

"I'll go with you, it's only right, seeing that I kind of owe her one." TK muttered as he made to stand up. "Besides, I have a couple of questions I want to ask her. I don't know what the hell happened with Devimon in the end…I only remember getting my ass kicked." Matt, catching wind of his brother's low mutterings, sighed.

"I guess I'll have to go too, then, because SOMEBODY is incapable of getting from one end of the room to the other."

"What are you talking about? Just get one of Gennai's canes, and I'll be fine." TK retorted.

"I'm sorry, TK, but I'm afraid my canes are too short for you to use effectively. You'll have to bend down way over to use them." Gennai said as he entered the living room as well.

"Grow taller, then, old man." TK rolled his eyes.

"No, TK, you grow shorter." Gennai replied airily as he plopped down on his rocking chair. "It's impossible for me to slap you in the face when you're so tall anyways."

"That's a low blow, old man." TK shook his head in mock despair as Matt and Lily started laughing their heads off, resulting in Jake to flip the middle finger at the two of them before pulling the nightcap over his eyes.

"Anyways, is it alright if we go visit that guy's sister right now?" TK asked with a straight face, immediately cutting right back to the situation at hand.

"Sure, you can talk to her. Though she might not respond because she's…contemplating the meaning of life, I guess you can say."

Tai facepalmed after hearing that. _What the hell does he mean by that? At least say it straight and tell me if nee-chan is alright or not._ He took a glance at TK's expression, trying to see if at least he got a spark of understanding, but his face remained stony as he curtly replied. "Understood." With that, Tai, TK, and Matt, who acted as a laughing crutch for his brother, headed off to Kari's dormitory door.

"Um…do you really understand what he just said?" Tai ventured in a hushed whisper as he put his hand on the doorknob.

"No, but if Gennai take his time to tell me that, it means nothing good."

"I see." Tai muttered as he opened the door, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so. If he had to see the state of the person on the bed one more time…well, Tai was quite certain that she wouldn't be the only one to cause worry to his parents any longer. Shaking his head, he backed away from the door.

"Sorry…I can't…"

TK and Matt just looked back at him with a weary expression before nodding slowly and shutting the door behind them, leaving Tai to open his eyes to a slab of polished wood. He rested his head on the door and closed his eyes once more as a memory buried deep into the crevices of his mind washed over him for the first time in eight years, grimacing as the sounds and scenes filled his head, the sirens, his sister being carted off in a gurney, his parent's outrage. _It's funny. I was never a good brother then. I obviously haven't learned anything eight years later. Good job, Tai. Good job._

###

"…You know, I thought I saw the worse of it when Jake had to come here once with a whole arm missing." Matt whispered to TK's ear. "But this is ridiculous. I mean, even if Jake didn't go through that something-digital reconstruction and got his arm back, at least he would still be able to live and fight with one arm. How are you supposed to live if you can't do anything at all, though?"

TK just shook his head in thought. He simply had nothing to say at the sight in front of him.

From the outside, he would've never known that the girl in the bed had any problems worse than a cold. Only her face was visible from above the sheets, and the only motions made were the slight movements caused by her calm and steady breaths. But he knew better. He knew that this girl was incapable of going from that to getting off the bed, or even moving in it. Her current state was almost no different from death itself. She could've been sleeping in a coffin and it wouldn't have changed anything.

**...Nii-san's outside, right?**

"Yeah." TK said shortly.

**…Of course…**

Matt, sensing that "awkward silence" moment settling in, quickly thought of something to say. "So…I'm sure Gennai already talked to you about his plan to cure you."

**I'm not doing it.**

Matt mouth stopped moving as any encouragement he wanted to add died in his throat, while TK merely raised an eyebrow in response.

"So that's what he meant…" Matt muttered after a silence.

TK shrugged at that as he asked the pseudo-comatose girl, "Why?"

**There's no point. I'm only a hindrance anyways. Never able to help, never able to do anything right. I might as well just stay out of the way like this instead of causing all of you unnecessary worry.**

TK shot his brother a stern look before he was able to even think of anything to say. Matt rolled his eyes as he recognized the "Don't interfere" look on his little brother's face. "Alright, alright, you deal with it then."

**I'm going to speak to her like this. You won't mind, right?** TK's voice echoed in his head. Matt wearily shook his head in exasperation. The fact that TK was trying to keep the conversation private just tells him that his "little bro" is going to say something that wasn't going to end well. At all.

"TK, try not to go over the roof, will you?"

**I'll do what I'll have to.**

"…It sucks that you don't listen to me anymore…"

###

**You're pathetic.**

Kari would've jumped in surprise if she was able to move. She did not expect anybody to actually send messages through the mind. While any one of the Digidestined could telepathically converse with one another, it was a draining effort if it was done over even a moderate amount of time, so they usually stuck with just talking normally. So the presence of another voice inside her head was somewhat unexpected, to say the least. She thought that anything her two visitors would've wanted to say to have reached her ears instead.

_…Um…what?_

**I'll say it again: You're pathetic.**

_…So? What's wrong with that? Do you find it amusing or something?_

**There's nothing amusing with your pitiful state.**

_Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know._

**So you don't have a problem with it?**

_No._

**So you don't have a problem with making your parents and brother and friends suffer. I see how it is.**

_…It's better this way…Nii-san is-_

And that was when Kari's head almost seemed to explode as the voice in her head suddenly rose up in volume.

**Better? You think that's better? That it's better to make your parents worry themselves to death about you, to realize that their son could undergo a fate even worse? That it's better to make every single one of your teammates so concerned over your health that they couldn't focus on their mission and got killed? You think it's better to make that brother of yours relieve whatever memory he's going through whenever he sees you just lying there like a corpse on her deathbed? I don't know what exactly is he thinking, but I'm sure you do, and tell me, is that something you want him to remember? Or are you so selfish that you wouldn't care?**

_I am NOT SELFISH! There's a reason why I'm going to just stay here! I'm a hindrance whether or not I'm perfectly fine or I'm like this! At least if I stay behind, they wouldn't have to worry about saving my stupid ass every single damn time!_

**Is it wrong to be saved? Or is that your shattered pride speaking?**

_Would you stop asking questions? They're really PISSING ME OFF._

**Why should I when you haven't even figured out what you yourself are saying yet?**

Kari would've gritted her teeth if she was able to move her jaw, but no, she wasn't even capable of that. Her body was only running because she was drip-fed food and water. Either way, that voice sounded way too smug for her liking.

_Don't give me that Yoda garbage. _(A cookie to anyone who gets what I'm making a reference to here!)

**So it is your pride speaking.**

_You finally stopped asking a question. Congrats._

**And you haven't stopped being a pathetic bitch.**

_Blah blah blah. _With that, Kari tried to force her unwelcome visitor out of her mind, concentrating on just shoving him right out of her head. The visitor simply waved her attempts aside as if they were just a couple of flies that was annoying him.

**It's nice to know that you're acknowledging the truth of what I say.**

_Just shut the fuck up._ Kari literally growled mentally, her efforts to kick the voice out multiplied tenfold.

**Sigh…** With that, Kari suddenly started experience an abrupt and severe headache as her attacks were all bashed apart.

The voice continued as if there was no interruption.** As long as one always gives it their all, they will never trouble for a team. But once one lacks motivation, that's when they are a hindrance. And you, right now, are a huge one. Is that what you want?**

_…_

**I see. I'll kill you here and now just to save us all trouble, but then your friends will suffer, which is counter-productive. So I'll leave you just lying like a dead person on this bed. You might as well be one, anyways, the way you appreciate your friends. **With that, she felt the voice withdraw from her head, leaving it feeling strangely empty inside.

_…I am not selfish._ She thought to herself. She felt the voice come back into her head again as soon as she finished her thought, but only to say two words:

**Prove it.**

###

"…TK, never pursue psychology as a major, ok?"

TK rolled his eyes when he heard the first thing his brother said after that exited the room.

"I'm serious; your face looked really scary when you were talking to her telepathically, which only meant you way saying something incredibly harsh and might get you killed later. And aren't you tired right now? That's supposed to drain you quite a bit." Matt continued.

"Calm down, it's not like she will kill me. And I'm fine…" With that, TK began to topple to the ground, sliding off Matt's shoulder. Matt quickly caught him before he hit the floor, his face covered in worry.

"…He just fell asleep. Told him he was tired" With a weary smile, Matt hoisted his brother onto his back and went back into TK's dorm, setting him gently on the bed before pulling the covers silently over him. He then made his way to exit the room, but stopped at the open door to look back at his brother, who was now sleeping blissfully.

_My little bro can be so cruel sometimes…but…that only means he cares. He's only harsh when he cares._ Matt smiled as he silently closed the door. _You care about people fast, don't you, TK? Or is there something else in this?_

Matt made a mental note to discuss this with Athena later. After all, to them, this should prove to be fun.

###

Gennai got out of his chair as soon as he saw Matt come back to the living room. "Where's TK?"

"Asleep in bed." Matt replied as he plopped onto one end of a sofa and fished out his camera before he began to take photos again, this time the sleeping Jake and now asleep Lily as his targets, each sprayed on a separate couch. "If only I can move them next to each other without waking them up…shame…" He muttered as his fingers pressed on and off the button for the shutter.

"I see." Gennai said simply to no one in particular as he climbed back up with his cane off his rocking chair before silently moving off to Kari's dorm. He knocked gently twice before opening the door and entering, seating himself in the now empty seat besides Kari's bed.

"How are you doing, angel?"

**Why do you call me that, anyways? **Kari irritably replied. Gennai's eyebrows rose at the response. _Before she sounded depressed, like a dog who crawled away with his tail between his legs. What's with this?_ He smiled slightly as he remembered just who the last visitor was. _Smart boy. I have to thank him later._

"Well, do you still stand by your decision to not undergo therapy?"

**…**

"…I can understand if you don't-"

**…When do we start?**

Gennai's smile only grew wider. "Well, I plan to start by the time your body thinks it's 'morning.' Get some rest for now."

**I see. Thank you.**

Gennai stood up then and made his way back to the door.

**You haven't answered my first question…**

"Oh, that. I'm sure you can figure it out. After all, you're an angel." With that, Gennai exited her room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Kari's eyelids slowly opened up after she heard the door shut, blinking lazily as her pupils moved around, finally able to see something for the first time in two days. From her position on the bed, she could barely make out the wood door on her left. Satisfied with her progress, she closed her eyes again.

_Just you wait…I'll prove you wrong…and then I'll kick your ass…_

###

**...Yeah...I write like crap for filler chapters, it feels awkward. Don't worry, the story will move along soon enough...**

**Anyways, read, review, and stick around for the next chapter! I'll try not to spend two months to update again, though no promises.**


	16. Interlude 2

Hey, guys, it's been a while. Yeah, I know. What did I promise again? Yeah, sorry about that. The workload recently has been nuts, and I can't seem to find time to get anything done. Then, of course, there's personal procrastination and stuff. That's my fault. But anyways, before you guys start wondering, no, I'm not going to quit here. An upload will come up, eventually, unless something happens to me or something. And now, I'll just leave you guys back to your life.

Thanks for sticking with me even when I've quieted down, people. I really appreciate it. I hope to update soon, and that it won't fail to entertain you.


	17. Chapter 15: Please don't kill me, guys

**So, guys, Enigma speaking. I'm here to tell you guys to wait just a BIT longer. Because, you know, IQ is like, a total bastard...**

*IQ sneaks behind Enigma with papers in hand

**And, you know, he's been procrastinating and stuff for the past four months, and he sucks in Spanish...**

*IQ scowls as he sets papers on desk behind Enigma

**Not to mention he gets distracted and such way too often, so, yeah,**

*IQ runs out of the room

**Thanks for coming by, and I'll try to get IQ to...oh, wait, here's the chapter. That must mean... IQ, GET YOUR BUTT BACK OVER HERE!**

**Oh, and we don't own Digimon. Or any Digimon. And...yeah.**

###

Chapter 15

"Come in."

The door opened with a loud screech as Myotismon entered the room. He knelt down swiftly to the hooded figure sitting in the shadows.

"My Lord, I'm here to deliver my report."

"I see. Go on."

"Devimon had apparently incapacitated Archangel as well as one of guerilla members relatively severely before his…elimination. All the others, though Devimon had inflicted injuries of various levels to them, had managed to heal each other, with the help of Project: Reflection."

"And the clean-up?"

"Well…we ambushed them successfully, forcing Blue Burn and March Hare to stay behind and intercept us, trying to buy time for their allies to attempt escaping into the forest. I sent my forces after them, but I am unsure of what exactly happened there. My subordinate, for some reason, came back mute, but due to the lack of prisoners, I presumed the enemy had…escaped."

"You do not believe that your forces were capable enough to kill a group of twelve?"

"While I do believe that my strike force is more than enough for those guerilla fighters, even with help from Project: Reflection, I must say they have an amazing knack for pulling rather unexpected tactics, such as, say, playing dead."

The hooded figure tilted his head back, the red eyes in the darkness of the hood rolling around in exasperation. "You mean, they were completely and utterly hopeless," He raised his hand, stopping Myotismon as he opened his mouth to respond. "It doesn't matter as of now. Tell me how things went on your end."

"It seemed that Blue Burn and March Hare, at the very least, are both much more powerful than we've been expecting. Etemon was defeated by Hare with relatively little effort, and I myself was paralyzed by Burn's tactics, despite his rather suicidal idea of a last stand."

"Is he dead?"

"…"

"I see."

The hooded being stood up menacingly, his robes billowing out from under him. He observed the vampire-like Digimon, still kneeling on the floor with his head down.

"Stand up."

Myotismon stood up slowly, almost as if he was hesitating to do so. While his face betrayed no sense of emotion, his eyes were still glued to the floor, not even flicking up to see ahead of him.

"It's okay." The hooded creature cooed. "Nothing would happen to you if you look up."

Myotismon hesitated for a second as he thought about his lord's words carefully, finally deciding that it was safe to raise his gaze up to the throne.

"Ah, good. It's easier to speak when you get eye contact, you know."

_Easy for you to say, you don't have to wonder where the eyes are half the time._

"Now, let's see. Have you ever wondered why I decided to enlist your services, Myotismon?" The hooded figure coolly sat back down at his thrown before continuing. "Honestly, I'm interested in your opinion. After all, I'm pretty sure that I haven't made the dumb mistake of recruiting pieces of trash just yet."

He folded his hands in front of him as he peered down at the vampire Digimon. "I have to admit, you have a great potential in you. Given enough time, I'm sure you could become as powerful as any of the Dark Masters. You have the intelligence to back it up too, which makes you much more useful as a subordinate. Granted, that also mean I should probably be wary of you lest you decide to try and betray me for any reason, but if such a thing would happen, that would be carelessness on my part. But I'm never careless."

The hooded figure made a low chuckling sound as he paused to look in amusement at Myotismon's face, which had been warping progressively into a look of confusion and unease.

"Calm down, I already said I won't do anything to you. I'm just suggesting that you might want to bring back some results next time. Otherwise, I might have to go back on my word," The hooded one waved his hand at Myotismon in a nonchalant manner, as if he was shooing a fly away. "Dismissed."

###

One doesn't have to be a genius to know that something was majorly wrong.

_He'll never do something like just letting the prey go._ Myotismon thought as he furiously tried to assess the situation. _And yet, there he is, waving me off like nothing ever happened. It was almost as if he already knew what I was going to tell him._

He bowed down deep as the gears inside his head continued to turn, buying himself all the time he can. "Thank you, my lord."

_He said that he wasn't going to do anything to me, and knowing that he follows through with everything he says, I guess that means it's safe to turn my back to him. Though,_ _what kind of mastermind keeps his promises anyways?_

The door was getting closer and closer, and Myotismon couldn't help but get the feeling of unease as he continued walking. His eyes flicked around wildly, jumping at the slightest flutter. His arms shuddered slightly as his hand pushed open the door. Myotismon quickly glanced left and right along the corridor, and silently cursed as he realized that the corridor was way too long for him to tell if anything was hidden around the corners.

_Wait a minute…why would he ever make a corridor like that in the first place? The lord is generally very cautious, so this is something unexpected out of him._

Now he was even more unnerved than before due to his thoughts. Myotismon breath became quick and ragged-sounding as he closed the door with a soft clang and hiss.

_Wait, what hiss…?_

His head whirled around, only to see trails of smoke flying towards him. He opened his mouth to scream-

###

Six small bangs resounded in the corridor, followed by a large explosion.

The smoke billowed out, filling the corridor and leaking to the corridors.

A puppet peers out from behind the corner, his eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to see through the smoke. He cocked his head and frown as he found his attempt unsuccessful.

"I THINK we got him." He ventured.

His companion, towering over him completely, merely grunted. "Hmph. You shouldn't expect that so easily. Such a badly planned surprise attack shouldn't work with someone like that vampire. He's simply just not dumb enough."

"Well, can we take a few more shots just to make sure?"

"No, we were ordered specifically to make only one attempt to kill him, although I have no idea why he would tell us to do it here of all places. I highly doubt it's to actually kill him though."

"But-"

"I said no."

"Ok, ok…" The puppet sighed before peering around the corner again. "The smoke's clearing up."

He was greeted with another grunt. Taking that as positive sign, the puppet walked out of his cover and started walking through the now-fading smoke, his companion following along silently.

"I don't see him anywhere… maybe we got him?"

The giant shrugged slightly, though with his huge, mechanized body, it didn't seem like a small movement at all. "Perhaps. Perhaps not."

"You know, none of your answers make sense these days," the puppet sighed. "If you could've just said something like, 'Well, the smoke is just about gone, and I don't see any remains, so either we completely obliterated him and he's dead, or…' ARG!"

He yelped as the mechanized giant swung one arm around his waist and quickly pulled him back. His eyes widened as he saw a red flash snap around the spot that he was standing in just half a second ago. His eyes quickly followed the flash back up to the ceiling as he prepared his hammer head towards it in retaliation.

"Are you capable of even following simple directions?" His giant companion sighed as he squeezed the puppet in his arm even tighter. "No second chances," He shook his head in exasperation. "Now get down here, you bastard." This was directed towards the ceiling, where the red flash disappeared into.

Myotismon dropped down in front of the giant, having ended up wedged somewhat precariously between one of the walls and the ceiling in an attempt to escape from the bombardment. "I thank you for not trying to kill me a second time." He growled before spinning around and walking away in an icy silence.

"Oh, I would've tried, you- mmfmfmmff!" The puppet's mouth was then covered by his companion's arm.

"Hey, orders are orders. No hard feelings."

Myotismon stopped at that before turning to give the mechanized giant a look.

"…Fine, you can stop giving me that 'I can't believe you just said something so stupid' look and just continue walking along."

Myotismon only shook his head once before continuing on, his cloak disappearing around the corner with a faint swish. At this point, the puppet managed to get his face out of the mechanized arm. "Oh, come on, dino-brain. What the hell was that for? What a stupid hunk of metal, I don't know why-"

His words were cut off yet again as he was thrown across the length of the corridor.

###

The hooded figure sat in his throne, listening to the din outside with amusement. "Well played, Myotismon. Now come back with a better mission report next time, or just don't come back at all. I don't want to spend the effort to try any harder to kill you. There are other things to be done. Like… that." His eyes roamed onto a glass vial, the contents inside swirling around erratically, causing the vial to shake. It was as if the content knew that it was mentioned and was demanding to know exactly what the hooded figure meant.

"There's more than one way to win a war…isn't there?"

The vial only shook even more in response.

###

The Third Day

I don't know how I'm supposed to date anything during times like these, so I'll just resort to calling them the # of the day since I've been here. Saves me some headaches.

Apparently, I've been sleeping for two days, and woke up on the third. I've been having that dream again during my little nap though. Damn bastards. I didn't ask them to try and torture me, let alone leave me future trauma. You would think two or three years worth would've been enough, but no, it doesn't work like that.

I had a nice philosophical talk with a girl today. It was probably the longest talk I've had with a stranger of an opposite gender. Actually, probably stranger, period, would've been enough. Too bad it wasn't exactly the greatest talk in the universe.

Apparently, after my little…talk, I fainted due to exhaustion. Telepathic speech is really not what it's all cut out to be. At least, it definitely doesn't match the convenience that is shown in fiction books. Such a shame, too.

###

The Fourth Day

We started our usual card game tournament today. These card games are really the only way to kill time here. There's really nothing better to do. Matt tried to remedy the situation this time around by keeping a Playstation 3 in the storage of his Digivice. I'm still surprised that we have this Playstation 3 around at all. The Ebay auction held for it was pretty extreme, to say the least.

Matt's plan crashed to the floor when we realized one important thing: There's no outlet for the plug. Gennai suggested that we could consider pooling in our energy to make the console work, but without any clear knowledge of the machine's intake of electricity, we could very easily fail to make it run at all, or just as easily cause to explode. So, we returned to our daily ritual of playing card games.

Since Matt is always the one to carry the deck of cards around with him, he gets to choose the first game to play, as usual. First thing he suggested was "Strip Go Fish!" He gets kicked in the face. I don't know why, but he always suggested Strip something to start the marathon every time. Lily's response is more of an automatic reaction than a real warning by now. We ended up playing real games of Go Fish, in which Jake won nine out of first ten rounds we played because he was keeping track of all the cards in the game using a piece of paper. He only lost one round because I got a frankly ridiculous hand and won two turns afterwards. We have considered banning the use of pencil and paper but after looking at Jake's notes and failing to comprehend anything on that note, we decided that there's simply no point of the ban. I quit after the tenth round because I really didn't want to push my luck and try to go for a stacked hand a second time. Instead I wandered outside and walked around the house. It's really disturbing to look out and realize that all you can see is white. Don't even mention that I can't see what I'm standing on. I rather not think about.

###

The Fifth Day

Spent the day sitting out of the card game marathon. Why? Because today's game was BS. I don't play BS. You see, there's no point of playing BS when your brother just happens to be the master of cheating. I remember one time when he slipped a card into the pile every time we weren't looking. Actually, we only knew about it because he told us what he did after he won. Another time, he hid half of his cards in his sleeve and he only put the cards back in after the game was over and he was shuffling the deck again. The argument is that since we end up lying in BS, we might as well consider all cheating methods to be legal.

Instead, I took my time to throw some shots in a small garage next to the side of the house that we constructed a while back. We considered making it an outdoors basketball court, but the white surroundings is simply too disorientating. Walls have to be placed so we didn't confuse ourselves.

As I was shooting around, I was hearing some very distressing noises through the wall. From what I heard, I presumed that the brown-haired "Spikes" got pretty pissed at my brother for his tactics and flipped the table over, and apparently everyone started laughing while he was stringing along a huge line of expletives.

Now that I think about it, Willis mentioned something about a basketball team, if I remember correctly. I wonder if I should join. It might be fun. Then again, it might not.

###

The Sixth Day

No card games today. We all hung out and played some hoops outside. Jake, being the "funny" guy he was, spent the whole time grumbling. Apparently, he tries to avoid playing basketball when I'm involved because he, as he says it, "Tend to twist my ankle a lot more often than necessary."

We played a three-on-two: Lily, Jake, and Spikes VS Matt and I. Which means that it's really more of a three-on-one and a half. In my view, Matt counts as only half a player because he spends the whole game just strolling along the court. Sometimes he doesn't even move. I don't complain though, I have long since found out that Matt acted as a rather unpredictable and effective pick. He's also a pretty good shot when he's left open. Strangely enough, he is left open very often. I guess when you're just standing around, nobody wants to guard you. But then, there are plenty of three-point shooters all over the place who camp out in the corner… the people I know must simply be impatient, then. Certainly Spike-head was one such impatient person. Poor kid had to watch Matt drain five twenty-footers in a row, since he constantly lost his man. Eventually, Lily caught on and she made him help her guard me instead, and Jake happily went to keep an eye on Matt. Or happily stand on the side and chat with Matt while I play a two-on-one. Being double-teamed by myself was, as usual, annoying. I won this one, though only by a narrow margin of twenty-one to eighteen.

Now that I think about it, it seemed that while he was guarding me, I always saw him sprawled on the ground one way or another. Perhaps I really should take him more seriously when he tells me that he actually twists his ankle every time he guards me.

Gennai's been walking Spikey's sister around for the past couple of days. I think, as of now, she's capable of feeling things again, as well as talking, walking, and usage of limbs to some extent. Knowing Gennai, she can probably do more, but it's not like he'll ever tell me that. Still, at this rate, her recovery would be complete a few days before the end of the two weeks. I'll have to undergo combat training again soon. While such training has been going on for a long time now, I can't help but wonder still, even to this day, why Jake and Lily would have any knowledge on combat to begin with.

###

"The HELL, Athena!"

Izzy sighed as he drifted even farther from the chaos that he knew as about to erupt. But when he heard Mimi's giggles at his other side, he couldn't help but sigh again.

_Of course I'm trapped._

"Izzy, why did you stop?"

"…huh?"

"You were moving towards me…and then you stopped…"

_Most people would be asking me why I'm moving towards them in the first place!_ Izzy's mind screamed as he tried to think of something suitable to say.

"Do you hate me?" His eyes widened as he heard that. This was going down a road that he did not like the looks of, and it was going down fast.

"What?" _Real smooth, me._

"You hate me, don't you?"

Izzy was ready to smash his head into a pole at this point, but since there were none around, he instead watched the "chaos" develop, trying hard to not squirm under the gaze that was drilling a hole in the back of his head.

"…'hate' is a strong word," he muttered as he watched the currently bleached-blonde boy lift his head up into the sky, his hands over his face in obvious exasperation. Yolei and that other girl was laughing at his predicament, and Davis hung as close as he can around them while looking subtle, wearing a sullen face in the meanwhile. Sora, Cody, and Joe were up farther ahead, their expressions much more grim. Izzy suspected they were talking about what to do next, and he knew it was a good idea to join the conversation. But no, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment, and walking away would only make his situation worse.

"Don't avoid the question," she muttered back.

Izzy continued watching his juniors as David got dragged into the fray. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he assumed that "Athena" caused some sort of ruckus that the bleached-blonde boy was freaking out over. The fact that Yolei was fervently interested told him that it was probably a romantic issue. And since Yolei was also the one who dragged Davis into the conversation, it probably had to do with Kari as well. He has a couple of theories on exactly what's going on, but to be honest, he didn't think he really wanted to confirm them.

_Then again, it might've gone better than the current situation._

He didn't see any other resolution other than answering. Not answering would be interpreted negatively. Attempting to answer in a subtle manner wouldn't go down well either. Izzy wondered why he would even care in the first place, but he already knew the answer to that: He couldn't force himself to be so heartless that he didn't even consider the consequences. He'll never forgive himself if he did.

"…Do you think I hate you?" _Wait, no… that sounded…oh shit._

It was silent as they walked side by side, only a small gap separating them

"Yes." More silence.

"Well, you think wrong." Izzy squeezed his eyes as the words rolled off his mouth. Yet, that was what he thought. Who is to deny him the truth?

"When have I ever been right? Tell me that."

She stopped walking; hanging behind Izzy, acting as if she was his shadow, a shadow that didn't want to follow the owner anymore. He turned around, rolling his eyes before throwing a piercing gaze at her. Mimi was surprised that she didn't have to look down for him to look at her in the eye. That's how it always had been, her looking down at him because of his height, until today. She found it odd that she never noticed.

"I think that asking an honest question is the right thing to do."

Izzy turned back forward again and started walking, taking only two steps before noting that Mimi had not moved from her spot. He turned back with an eyebrow raised, questioning her.

"You avoided the question."

"Um, what does that have to do with staying on one spot?"

"Answer. The. Question." She said softly.

Izzy rolled his eyes. _Does it really matter? Well, for her, maybe it does. I guess it's not right to keep her from getting an answer._

"If you really want to know, you're right to demand for an honest answer. Now, can we get moving or not?"

"…" She looked at her feet, still not budging an inch.

Izzy just shook his head as he grabbed her wrist, wrenching her from the spot. She stumbled along as Izzy dragged her back towards the group, who were now some distance away and looking back, wondering what was taking them so long.

"Look, if you're thinking about something, please think about it later. If you think about it here, you're going to be left behind. And I'm not leaving anyone behind."

Mimi said nothing, just letting him drag her along like a rag doll. And yet the silence between them seemed different to her this time around. She looked behind her as Izzy continued to drag her, her eyes widening as she realized two things.

One: He closed the distance

Two: The road was slanted upwards.

###

TK sighed as he closed his journal, rubbing his eyes as he struggled to not just crash and sleep right there on his makeshift desk. Then again, when his desk is actually his bed, who can blame him?

He rolled off the bed, setting his feet down on the floor as he blinked his eyes, getting the sleepiness out of his system. _One can only be occupied for so long with card games and basketball, I guess._

**Perhaps you can go occupy yourself some more by talking with the opposite gender more often.**

TK held down the urge to slap himself as he heard that pervasive voice in his head again. _Look, I don't believe your "I am you," statements anymore. I don't know who the heck you are, but would you mind leaving my thoughts in peace? This is really awkward, just saying._

**…**

_I assume I hit a sore spot there._

**…Fine, fine, you got me. I'm not you, I'm actually just some spirit holding refuge in your head. And sure, I'll leave you alone. Geez. People don't appreciate humor anymore these days…**

_That was humor?_

**Oh, come on, you need to get a life! Check out some girls, you know?**

_I swear, if I ever figure out how to get to you inside my head, you will not be happy after I'm done with you._

**Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll leave you alone now.**

TK sighed as he walked out of his room, doing his usual job of bringing in a plate of food for the now-less paralyzed girl. _I have to talk to Gennai about this "spirit" later, it's making me feel edgy._

**Can do, I'll remind you.**

TK flung his arms out, passed caring if anybody was around to see him act like what would be a crazy person to them. _WHAT DID I TELL YOU?_

**Hey, I'm in your head, I can't help it. Besides, I'm trying to help this time, right?**

"Yeah, whatever," TK grumbled as he walked into the kitchen, grabbing the plate of porridge with salted radishes from the counter.

He carried the plate in one hand as he walked back towards his room and knocked on the door across from it, waiting barely a second before for turning the knob with one hand and shoving the door open with the other, entering the room still mumbling about things like "dumb spirits" and…well, just "dumb spirits."

"Well, doesn't someone look pissed today," Kari said smugly as she looked up from the seventieth magazine that she had picked up and started reading.

"Yeah, well, not everyone deserves to be sent to a mental asylum for having voices in their head." He rolled his eyes as he grabbed the tray with utensils on the desk next to her and plopped it on her lap, then setting the plate on it.

"Hm?" She raised one eyebrow lazily as he threw himself into a chair, cradling his head in his head. "What's this about voices in people's heads?"

"Nothing, it's just that I apparently have some 'spirit,'" He rolled his eyes again as he made air quotes with his hands, "…residing in my head. And it is annoying."

**I'm a "he," thank you very much.**

Kari shrugged. "I don't know, I think I have voices in my head every once in a while too."

"…You're not worried?"

"I guessed it wasn't actually my brain screwing around with me, the voice sounded different after I thought about it. Besides, it hasn't bothered me since the day I almost…"

The final word hung in the air, unfinished. TK gazed at a corner in the room while Kari poked at her food with her chopsticks aimlessly, both of them thinking about the events that day.

**Hey, you were doing well, why did you stop? Now this is getting awkward…**

_Shut up._

**Sure, emo-boy.**

"Anyways, is there anything else besides your worries over your sanity?" Kari shifted herself into a more comfortable position as she started eating. Swallowing some porridge and radishes down, she continued, "Not that you had any sanity to begin with, but…"

"You can act smart after you start walking without something to support you." TK deadpanned back, feeling a sense of quiet victory as Kari's smirk melted off her face.

**Oh, I know, I know! You can…**

_Shut. UP._

**Aw…**

"And yes, there are a few more things that you should probably be aware of. You're probably slated for recovery in three days or so. As soon as you're ready, we're going to put you under training for the remainder of the stay here." TK continued.

"Hm? Training?"

"Yes, we've decided that we had to put you and your brother under some training, even if it's for a few days. Hopefully it would help you guys stand against our adversaries on your own. Your brother is actually going to start tomorrow, since Jake deems himself ready to train with him by now."

Kari nodded aimlessly as she mulled over his words. _Tai is going train with their leader. Good. He'll probably get something out of it._

However, Kari still found it odd that they would be getting assistance in the first place. "Remind me why you guys are bothering to do this again."

"You tell me. Try using that thing in your head called a brain for once." TK said lazily, stretching out his arms and legs from the chair.

"Hey, I don't know, I'm not the one who decided to turn traitor." She protested.

"Do I have to spell everything out for you?" TK grumbled as he dropped his head and arms into his lap. "I was looking forward to taking a little nap instead of having a pointless discussion with a paralyzed girl and watching her chow down on her food."

Kari shrugged. "Fine, don't tell me. Whatever."

TK only crunched his head within his arms tighter, and Kari returned to eating her porridge silently. At least, it was silent until the sound of strumming started coming out of the walls.

"Say, who's been playing the guitar here? I hear it every now and then,"

"That's my bro," TK replied, his voice muffled by his arms.

"He brought a guitar with him?"

"Actually, we had to completely reconstruct that guitar out of data. It was a little tough, but thanks to Ken, we managed, and Matt has stashed the guitar here ever since."

"Hm. He's not bad, I guess," Kari shifted her head as she thought intently. "I can't help but feel that it sounds familiar, though."

"He's the vocalist and bass player in the Teenage Wolves, what am I supposed to say?" She heard from the chair.

"…That explains it. Yolei always forces me to listen to their songs." She muttered. "I never knew why she would be so obsessed with them. They don't really seem that special to me."

"I can't blame you. Personally, I think Matt would do better in a genre outside of heavy rock," He shifted his head slightly, his face now completely covered in his arms, so that only his spiky mane of blond hair was visible. "Besides, he plays better with a guitar than with a bass."

"…why play the bass portion at all then?"

"The band needed a bass, and he didn't mind."

"I see."

Kari returned to her food as the two of them listened wordlessly to the strumming of Matt's guitar, quickly changing from random chords to a melody.

"Simple and Clean? Really?"

TK made a shrugging motion, head still buried in his arms. "We watched Kingdom Hearts gameplay videos when we were trying to look for fighting styles we can adapt, at least that was what Jake and Lily was telling us to do. We ditched keyblade-style combat though because the characters stayed airborne way too long, so we were not capable of many aerial techniques. The grounded ones weren't exactly practical either. I admit, we enjoyed the storyline somewhat though, so we watched the gameplay videos all the way through anyways. That's why Matt was able to pick up the song." TK winced as a note out of place floated through the wall. "He makes quite a few mistakes though, as you can see."

"But, still, that song is so…feminine."

"Huh? How?" TK looked up blearily, blinking his eyes rapidly to recover.

"…You honestly don't know?"

"I didn't get the lyrics. They contradict each other in my opinion."

"Well, try using that thing in your head called a brain for once." Kari said smugly as she set her utensils down next to her plate, her dinner complete.

"Ah ha ha, you're so funny." TK muttered as he collected the tray. "And now you finally finished your food, so now I can get the hell out of here."

"Say, why do we bother eating in the first place? We're just a digital rendition of ourselves here, and I don't think digital renditions of humans need to have food."

"Force of habit. We don't want to not eat here and then transfer that habit back into the real world, because you actually do need to eat back on Earth," TK paused at the door, one hand on the knob. "Any other questions that I'll regret answering?"

"Yes, do you use gel for your hair or not?"

"I'm not answering that." He grumbled as he opened the door. "Have fun sitting in one spot for the next six hours. Hopefully you'll be able to walk without a human support by then."

He stepped out the door, and began shutting it, stopping when he realized he was staring back at Kari's face. "…Do you want something from me?"

"No, I'm just showing you that I'm perfectly capable of walking."

"That's nice." He made to shut the door, but Kari's foot had jammed it already. "Um, do you want the door open…?"

"No, I'm just going to walk to the kitchen and back. Without support." Kari said airily as she opened the door.

"…The hell. Fine. But you better find something other than me to grab on if you screw up." TK rolled his eyes as he started carrying the tray back to the kitchen. _What's with this girl? She's nuts…there's no point of overexerting herself. But no, she thinks she has to prove some damn point._

Much to TK's surprise, nothing worth noting happened as he made it to the kitchen, setting the tray in the sink as Kari watched from the doorway. Though he was still feeling somewhat uneasy, he hoped that it would be just as eventful on the way back anyways.

Instead, what happened was that Kari's leg froze halfway and she started to tip forward. TK sighed as she started to wave her arms around in an attempt to balance herself and grabbed her by the shoulders to help steady her.

"And of course this happens," he muttered, ignoring the glare that Kari shot at him. "Now I have to freaking carry you back…are your legs working again?"

"Yeah," she grumbled, obviously not happy with the mishap.

TK started walking her slowly back to her door, his hands on her shoulders, ready to grab her and hold her steady at a moment's notice. Ironically, that strategy failed him the second time around.

Kari's leg froze up yet again, so TK tightened his hold to try and steady her. It would've ended well right then and there too, if TK was just keeping track of where his feet were going as well.

"…Shit," he mumbled as one of his legs bumped into Kari's frozen one, somehow getting trapped in the process. TK leaned backwards, trying to balance himself on his remaining leg, just to have that one dragged into the mess as well.

TK rolled his eyes as he started toppling down, dragging Kari down with him. He twisted his body, forcing his body to take the full impact, and Kari crashed into him, cushioning her fall.

"…Well, that *hack* *cough* failed."

"No shit." Kari hissed back at the boy under her, just to keep her mind from thinking about how possibly awkward this position was at that moment. "And I still can't move. Can you get up?"

"Have to wait a bit, I've *hack* got the wind knocked out of me." TK wheezed out as he tried to catch his breath.

"So, um, what's going on…?"

Matt, having heard some commotion outside in the hall, had stuck one head out of his room, and was rewarded with seeing his brother in a…somewhat awkward position with someone from the opposite gender. TK squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that Matt was feeling merciful today as he heard his brother's voice.

"We fell. Can you help us up?"

Matt's head whooshed right back into his room. "Hold on," TK heard through the walls. "I'll help you guys as soon as I find my camera."

_God dammit._

TK rolled his eyes at the face of his brother's antics as he put both arms behind his back, materializing his knuckles in the meantime. He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he set the knuckles right on the floor as best as he could and started streaming out a small steady stream of air, instead of the sudden burst that he was used to using as an attack.

_K, that worked well…didn't look like I blew a crater in the floor…_ TK exhaled the breath he was holding in relief as he managed to push himself and Kari into a sitting position.

"Can you walk yet?"

"…Don't think so." Kari replied glumly.

"Great. I hope my brother forgot where he put his camera again." TK grumbled as he flung Kari's arm over his neck and held it in place. With his other hand, he aimed the knuckle at the floor, and pushed the two of them up with the same steady stream.

"Crap, where did I put my camera?" TK heard his brother complain from his room as he half-dragged, half carried Kari back to her door. Kari shook her head in amusement. "Good job, apparently he did forget."

"Yep," TK rolled his eyes as he opened the door and dragged Kari to her bed, plopping her down in a sitting position on it. "Can you move your leg now?"

Kari flexed her legs experimentally, looking satisfied with the results. "Yeah. What great timing though." She rolled her eyes as she slung her legs onto her bed, getting under the covers.

"That's good. Now I can keep you from getting out of this room until Gennai says you recovered one hundred percent." TK muttered as he opened the door, stepping out of the room.

"Hey,"

"Yes?" He turned around, wondering what that crazy girl could've possibly wanted this time. Strangely enough, she was lying on the bed facing at the wall, only the back of her head visible to him. _…Well, I wonder where this sudden meekness was coming from._

"…Thanks."

TK snorted at the answer. _That explains it._

"Don't worry about it. None of this would've happened if you weren't so goddamn stubborn anyways," He flicked the lights off before shutting the door. "Good night."

###

**Something bothering you?**

Kari blinked as she realized that she had gradually dosed off after staring at a wall in the darkness for a good amount of time.

_Ah, no, it's nothing. Say, now that I think about it, does everyone have a voice like you?_

**I think you're trying to change the subject.**

_No I'm not!_

**Whatever you say…**

_You can mock me later._

**Alright, alright. To be truthful…I don't believe so. Would you mind if I keep my reasons to myself?**

Kari frowned as she rolled back into an upright position, now staring at the ceiling. _Sure, I guess…if it bothers you that much._

**Thank you.**

_Say, you're not annoying at all. I wonder why Blondie would complain about his._

**Actually, I wouldn't blame him… he's got a mischief maker for a voice, that boy.**

_You know his voice?_

**...I guess one could say that.**

_You don't want to talk about it?_

**I'm sorry to say I don't.**

_That's ok. I need to sleep anyways._

**Sweet dreams, young one.**

###

**Enigma: God dammit, what the hell have you been doing for the past four months? The readers are going to flame you hard now! Seriously! You lazy bum!**

**IQ: Yeah, I know...**

**Enigma: And your grammar sucks, as usual! God!**

**IQ: Yep...**

**Enigma: And what kind of crappy ending was that? I was expecting better out of you!**

**IQ: Yeah, I'm sorry about that... I'm sorry for leaving you readers like this for the past few months too, by the way. Thanks for sticking with us. Please read, review, and...not slaughter me too badly, especially for this chapter's ending. Thank you.**


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